Quotes About Mindfulness

Sometimes, simply by sitting, the soul collects wisdom.

When walking, walk. When eating, eat.

Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.

Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.

Sit quiety, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.

I had felt the strange happiness countless times. When a shovel met my hand, the damp of a hemp bag soaked my shoulder or rice weighed down my back, I entered a mindless oblivion, as if I had put on magic shoes and could jump out into the abyss, could even jump into death.

Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without for much knowledge is a curse.

Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.

The Perfect Man uses his mind like a mirror - going after nothing, welcoming nothing, responding but not storing.

Let your mind wander in simplicity, blend your spirit with the vastness, follow along with things the way they are, and make no room for personal views - then the world will be governed.

The True Man of ancient times knew nothing of loving life, knew nothing of hating death. He emerged without delight; he went back in without a fuss. He came briskly, he went briskly, and that was all. He didn't forget where he began; he didn't try to find out where he would end. He received something and took pleasure in it; he forgot about it and handed it back again.

When I speak of good hearing, I do not mean listening to others; I mean simply listening to yourself. When I speak of good eyesight, I do not mean looking at others; I mean simply looking at yourself. He who does not look at himself but looks at others, who does not get hold of himself but gets hold of others, is getting what other men have got and failing to get what he himself has got. He finds joy in what brings joy to other men, but finds no joy in what would bring joy to himself.

When a man does not dwell in self, then things will of themselves reveal their forms to him. His movement is like that of water, his stillness like that of a mirror, his responses like those of an echo.

When men do not forget what can be forgotten but forget what cannot be forgotten - that may be called true forgetting.

The man who has forgotten self may be said to have entered Heaven.

With all the confusion in the world these days, no matter how often I point the way, what good does it do? And if I know it does no good and still make myself do it, this too is a kind of confusion. So it is best to leave things alone and not force them. If I don't force things, at least I won't cause anyone any worry.

You should find the same joy in one condition as in the other and thereby be free of care, that is all. But now, when the things that happened along take their leave, you cease to be joyful. From this point of view, though you have joy, it will always be fated for destruction.

Absorb yourself in the realities of the task at hand to the point of forgetting your own existence. Then you will have no leisure to delight in life (4:14) or abhor death. That would make this mission of yours quite doable!

The breathing of the wise person comes from their heels, while most people breathe only from their throats.

Whoever focuses on externals will be clumsy inside. (p. 177)

Are you a SNIOP? Someone who is Sensitive to the Negative Influence Of Others?

It makes no difference where you go, there you are. And it makes no difference what you have, there's always more to want. Until you are happy with who you are, you will never be happy because of what you have.

The more you recognize and express gratitude for the things you have, the more things you will have to express gratitude for.

out from under it. "We never do anything well 'til we cease to think about the manner of doing it." —William Hazlitt