Quotes About Consciousness

Mindfulness can help you recognize your fearful thoughts so that you can see that they're simply thoughts, not reality.

can't do this,' 'I feel overwhelmed,' and 'I hate myself'. So I labeled them 'M1,' 'M2,' and 'M3,' for 'morning tape thoughts.' This way I can more easily watch the habitual play of thoughts running through my mind, without taking them too seriously or getting hooked in.

A Buddhist principle holds that awareness leads to empathy.

And with this loosening of our usual identifications, we become less defined by our reactions as we widen the scope of who we think we are.

Observing desire without acting on it enlarges our freedom to choose how we live.

We withdraw from our experience of the present moment. We pull away from the raw feelings of fear and shame by incessantly telling ourselves stories about what is happening in our life.

As I noticed feelings and thoughts appear and disappear, it became increasingly clear that they were just coming and going on their own. . . . There was no sense of a self owning them.

We speak about losing our minds as if it is a bad thing. I say, lose your mind. Do it purposefully. Find out who you really are beyond your thoughts and beliefs. • VIRONIKA TUGALEVA

Mindfulness is the intentional process of paying attention, without judgment, to the unfolding of moment-by-moment experience.

The deepest transformations in our lives come down to something very simple: We learn to respond, not react, to what is going on inside us.

Just as a clear pond reflects the sky, mindfulness allows us to see the truth of our experience.

Mindfulness is the intentional process of paying attention, without judgment, to the unfolding

was manipulating my inner experience rather than being with what was actually happening.

Our reality is the thoughts and dramas we see in our mental movies. We

Our daily trance can feel ordinary and familiar,

When we get lost in our stories, we lose touch with our actual experience.

Presence is not some exotic state that we need to search for or manufacture. In the simplest terms, it is the felt sense of wakefulness, openness, and tenderness that arises when we are fully here and now with our experience.

Find a sitting position that allows you to be alert—spine erect but not rigid—and also relaxed. Close your eyes and rest your hands in an easy, effortless way. Allow your awareness to scan through your body and, wherever possible, soften and release obvious areas of physical tension. Because we so easily get lost in thoughts, vipassana begins with attention to the breath. Using the breath as a

I asked myself, "Who is aware right now?" I was aware only of awareness: There was no "self" to locate. There was no entity that was failing, no self that was fearful and distraught, no foothold for self-doubt. While streams of sensations and emotions were moving through my body and mind, there was no one behind the scenes who possessed them or controlled them. I could find only the endless space of awareness—formless, open, knowing.

unless feelings are painfully intrusive or, as with sex, extremely pleasant or intense, physical sensations can seem elusive and be difficult to recognize. this is the basic characteristic of being in trance—we are only partially present to our experience of the moment.

Radical Acceptance is the art of engaging fully in this world — wholeheartedly caring about the preciousness of life — while also resting in the formless awareness that allows this life to arise and pass away.

What is happening?" We might also ask, "What wants my attention right now?" or, "What is asking for acceptance?

Let's throw away our throwaway culture

The quest for meaning, which is always begun again by every human intellect, is to human consciousness what a fingerprint is to the body: shared by all, and unique to every individual. A universal singularity.