Quotes About Mindfulness

Doing nothing all day—it's difficult at first. Being busy is a habit, and a hard one to break.

Although Yamashita and Amemiya grow and prepare their own food—both of which definitely take a lot of time—they seem to be suffused in timelessness, in an endless present.

If I'm busy, I might overlook something magnificent and splendid like a rare mushroom in the forest … and who knows when I might see such an amazing thing again?

How funny it is that one of the fundamental definitions of being "modern" is the ability to avoid physical labor, when it might be that very thing that could provide us with such depth of connection to ourselves and to the world.

It is like what Voltaire said, "Il faut cultiver son jardin": You must cultivate your own garden.

What were the things that really challenged me, made me wake up to my way of thinking that presupposed an industrialized system? In five words. Gentle. Small. Humble. Slow. Simple.

Most people assume that meditation is all about stopping thoughts, getting rid of emotions, somehow controlling the mind. But actually it's … about stepping back, seeing the thought clearly, witnessing it coming and going.

We spend so little time in the present moment that it's anything but ordinary.

Work for peace. Think before you say something. Are you making things better or just taking out your trash. The point is growth. Constant process of reclamation. Clearing out the deadwood and making room for things to grow.

put some leftover

We rob ourselves when we make decisions in the moment with no thought of how those decisions will impact our futures.

None of us plan--or intend--to get into trouble. The problem is, we don't plan not to.

Sometimes people let the same problem make them miserable for years when they could just say, So what. That's one of my favorite things to say. So what.

You won't be happy with more until you're happy with what you've got.

I think we're addicted to being triggered

We all feel shame when we're sitting on the cushion and stuff pops up in our head.

We keep the wolves outside by living well.

Why should I worry about that until it happens? That would spoil all the joy I feel today.

appreciation is like an insurance policy. it has to be renewed every now and then.

Four Rules For Life: Show up. Pay attention. Tell the truth. Don't be attached to the results.

poetry is a way of seeing and that a poet is not so much a person skilled with words as a person who recognizes the poetry that exists all the time all around us.

One breath at a time is an acceptable plan, she tells herself.

Perhaps what I was registering was nothing more than the passage of time, to which one should pay great attention, lest one remain fixed in past expectations, without noticing how foolish one had become.

Zen is not interested in high-flown statements; it wants its pupil to bite his apple and not discuss it.