Quotes About Mindfulness

In meditation practice, we learn to let go of the thoughts and fantasies that block the direct intuitive experience of who and what we really are. Our constant mental activity is what maintains the illusion of a separate self, and this effort makes us weary.

We are preoccupied with the past, which has already happened, and we are pre-occupied about the future, which does not yet exist. We worry about what will happen and we think about various things that make us feel anxious, frustrated, passionate, angry, resentful, afraid. While we are so preoccupied, our awareness of the here-and-now slips by and we hardly notice its passing. We eat without tasting, we look without seeing and live without ever perceiving what is real.

We are preoccupied with the past, which has already happened, and we are pre-occupied about the future, which does not yet exist. We worry about what will happen and we think about various things that make us feel anxious, frustrated, passionate, angry, resentful, afraid. While we are so preoccupied, our awareness of the here-and-now slips by and we hardly notice its passing.

Meditation practice is not concerned with perfecting concentration, or getting rid of thoughts, or trying to be peaceful. The practice merely provides a space in which we can relate simply with our body, our breath and the environment. Thoughts simply occur within a larger space. In that simple situation, we bring our attention back again and again from fantasy to the simple reality of being in the present moment.

Koan study is specifically designed to short-circuit the whole intellectual process and experience reality directly.

My mother always said to keep my eyes open for the unexpected good, the little treasures.

Flowers remind us to put away fear, to stop our rushing and running and worrying about this and that, and for a moment have a piece of paradise right here on earth. God offers healing through flowers and brings us closer to Him.

Well, then why should we do anything more than once? Should I just smoke this one cigarette? Maybe we should only have sex once, if it's the same thing. Should we just watch one sunset? Or live just one day? Because it's new every time. Each time is a different experience.

On the challenging side, you may be modeling stress, a sense that external events are more important than family, or an overemphasis on "doing" and lack of time to just "be.

The interior drama, therefore, is always the important one. The "story of your life" is written by you, by each reader of this book. You are the author. There is no reason, therefore, for you to view the drama and feel trapped by it. The power to change your own condition is your own. You have only to exercise it.

In a clean, uncluttered room, you can think, you can be your true self. It's the same with worries & anxieties, keep them under wraps, and you're free to excel in activity that matters.

Please don't tell me to relax it's only my tension that's holding me together.

People ask me how I keep my figure, and I tell them it's because I paint. When you're covered in paint, it's quite hard to put food in your mouth!

You have to count on living every single day in a way you believe will make you feel good about your life--so that if it were over tomorrow, you'd be content with yourself.

I began to listen to myself more... Trusting myself, I discovered, meant giving up control over my decisions. The choice came from me, but not from the part of me that used to decide—the mind that weighed, the mind that projected scenarios, the mind that controlled.

A sobering thought what if, at this very moment, I am

Buddhist mantras are deliberately deep yet superficially meaningless - to take your mind off things

I won't sit here and say I've never had a pimple, but I try to have a really great diet, you know, lots of vegetables and fish. And I think stress plays a huge part too.

A strong intention, a relaxed body and an open mind are the main ingredients for an active birth.

Thinking very often resembles napping, but the intent is different. --Stephanie Plum

This section of the book contains the how-to of unhooking from the past and living in the present, all the while being mindful of the future.

Food has always brought me comfort and the bingeing is triggered when I'm in a space that is not positive.

Strive to engage in activities that require constant self-development. Nurture and develop the physical body, but also our spiritual nature. We exist for a purpose: to honor our spirituality. When we do, we cannot help but love others. Hurting others is easily recognized as a crime against ourselves. It's no coincidence that all religions teach this at their core.

do more marveling and less whining.