Quotes About Consciousness

Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink, I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars. THOREAU, Walden

Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

It means that how we relate to all our moments, all our experiences, is a choice.

But meditation is different. From the perspective of meditation, every state is a special state, every moment a special moment.

ultimately, mindfulness is intimacy—with ourselves and the world—underneath any apparent separation between the two.

But waking up is ultimately something that each one of us can only do for ourselves. When it comes down to it, wherever you go, there you are

acceptance of the present moment has nothing to do with resignation in the face of what is happening. It simply means a clear acknowledgment that what is happening is happening.

In this way, clear seeing also means clear hearing, clear smelling, clear tasting, clear touching, and clear knowing, which would include knowing what's on your mind, and therefore knowing both what you are thinking and what emotions are visiting, and therefore feeling what you are feeling, grounded in the body, whether it be fear or anger or sadness, frustration, irritation, impatience, annoyance, satisfaction, empathy, compassion, happiness, or anything else.

To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts…. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake.

Meditation is a way of being, not a technique.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Only that day dawns to which we are awake." If we are to grasp the reality of our life while we have it, we will need to wake up to our moments. Otherwise, whole days, even a whole life, could slip past unnoticed.

When you begin to question the narrative of yourself and inquire as to who is even doing all of this talking inside your own head, you may come to realize that you have no idea!

becoming more of a human doing than a human being

Mindfulness reminds us that it is possible to shift from a doing mode to a being mode through the application of attention and awareness.

is that if you are aware of what is happening, you are "doing it right," no matter what is happening.

comes up with. This is the flavor of true intentionality and inner discipline. You do it simply

But, meditation is not about feeling a certain way. It's about feeling the way you feel. It's not about making the mind empty or still

Above all, meditation is about letting the mind be as it is and knowing something about how it is in this moment.

Thinking seems to constitute our "default setting" rather than awareness.

paying attention on purpose in the present moment and non-judgmentally.

Here is Eliot, again from "Burnt Norton": Time past and time future Allow but a little consciousness. To be conscious is not to be in time Ã¢â'¬Â¦

We will need to become more aware of and take precautions against the incredible pull of the Scylla and Charybdis of past and future, and the dreamworld they offer us in place of our lives.

Focusing on the breath does not mean you should think about your breathing!