Quotes About Mindfulness

Freedom is above all else freedom from our own notions and concepts. If we get caught in our notions and concepts, we can make ourselves suffer and we can also make those we love suffer.

Right or wrong action can be determined by using the single criterion of suffering or nonsuffering. Whatever causes suffering in the present or the future, for ourselves and people around us, is the wrong thing to do. What brings well-being in the present and the future is the right thing. The criterion is clear.

Only the present moment is real.

You wash your hands, you dress yourself, you perform everyday actions as before; but now you are aware of all your actions, words, and thoughts.

Whenever you see an unpleasant mental formation manifesting, call on the seed of mindfulness to manifest as a second energy in your mind consciousness in order to recognize, embrace, and calm the negative mental formation, so you can look deeply into the negativity to see its source.

When we hear a Dharma talk or study a sutra, our only job is to remain open. Usually when we hear or read something new, we just compare it to our own ideas. If it is the same, we accept it and say that it is correct. If it is not, we say it is incorrect. In either case, we learn nothing. If we read or listen with an open mind and an open heart, the rain of the Dharma will penetrate the soil of our consciousness.

It only takes one breath to return to your true home

The deep insight of impermanence is what helps us do this. It is very useful to keep our concentration on impermanence alive. You think the other person in your life is going to be there forever, but that is not true. That person is impermanent, just like you. So if you can do something to make that person happy, you should do it right away. Anything you can do or say to make him or her happy—say it or do it now. It's now or never.

The Chinese translate Four Noble Truths as Four Wonderful Truths or Four Holy Truths. Our suffering is holy if we embrace it and look deeply into it. If we don't, it isn't holy at all.

Breathing in, I know I'm breathing in. Breathing out, I know I'm breathing out.

All concepts, including those of "unity" and of duality, are foreign to experience which can be described as non-conceptual.

Don't ignore your suffering, but don't forget to enjoy the wonders of life, for your sake and for the benefit of many beings.

But if you take the time to still the activities of body and mind and look deeply, you may see that you are dying right this very moment. You think that you will die in a few years, or twenty years, or thirty years. That's not true. You are dying now. You have been dying all the time. It's actually very pleasant to die, which is also to live.

It is not words or concepts that are important. What is important is our insight into the nature of reality and our way of responding to reality.

When our mind is carried away by strong pain, it helps to go back to our relaxed and peaceful in-breath and out-breath. Eventually, when our painful feeling comes back, we accept it as it is instead of letting it carry us away and make us more agitated.

The survival of humankind depends on our ability to stop rushing.

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life.

In; out. Deep; slow. Calm; ease. Smile; release.

With nonattachment, we see both being and nonbeing as creations of our mind, and we ride the wave of birth and death. We don't mind birth. We don't mind death. [...] Reality transcends both birth and death.

We must be conscious of each breath, each movement, every thought and feeling, everything which has any relation to ourselves.

Our food comes from this beautiful planet. The Earth is inside us, in each morsel of food, in the air we breathe, in the water that we drink and that flows through us. Enjoy being part of the Earth and eat in such a way that allows you to be aware that each bite is deepening your connection to the planet.

The object of your practice should first of all be yourself. Your love for the other, your ability to love another person, depends on your ability to love yourself." If you are not able to take care of yourself

The awakened man lives in the world of things like everyone else. When he sees a rose he knows that it is a rose, like everyone else, But the difference is that he is neither conditioned nor imprisoned by concepts. Concepts now become marvelous skillful means in his possession.

we've seen that our suffering is connected with the suffering of our ancestors, our loved ones, and with the planet itself, so we know our happiness is not an individual matter. If we are able to breathe happily, we can invite our ancestors to enjoy breathing in with our lungs. If we are able to enjoy walking, we can invite our ancestors to walk with our feet.