Quotes About Awareness

The essence of love and compassion is understanding, the ability to recognize the physical, material, and psychological suffering of others, to put ourselves "inside the skin" of the other.

A few years ago, I asked some children, What is the purpose of eating breakfast? One boy replied, To get energy for the day. Another said, The purpose of eating breakfast is to eat breakfast. I think the second child is more correct.

What we need are people who are capable [...] of not taking sides so that they can embrace the whole of reality.

When you have trouble sleeping, follow your breathing in and breathing out. Bring your awareness to the different parts of your body in turn, and allow them to relax.

To be in the here and the now—solid and fully alive—is a very positive contribution to our collective situation.

What you read and write can help you heal, so be thoughtful about what you consume.

Many of us slog through life without conscious awareness or intention. We set ourselves a course and we barrel ahead, without stopping to ask whether this path is fulfilling our most important goals. That's partly because many of us believe that happiness is not possible in the here and now. We think we need to struggle now so that we will be happy in the future. So we postpone happiness and try to run into the future and attain the conditions of happiness that we don't have now.

My aim is not to give you knowledge. My aim is to help you break free from your views.

Flowers decompose, but knowing this does not prevent us from loving flowers. In fact, we are able to love them more because we know how to treasure them while they are still alive. If we learn to look at a flower in a way that impermanence is revealed to us, when it dies, we will not suffer. Impermanence is more than an idea. It is a practice to help us touch reality.

One day my left hand was holding a nail and my right hand a hammer. I was trying to hang a picture and I was not very mindful. Instead of pounding on the nail I pounded on the finger. Right away my right hand put the hammer down and took care of my left hand as if she were taking care of herself.

When a feeling or thought arises, your intention should not be to chase it away, even if by continuing to concentrate on the breath the feeling or thought passes naturally from the mind. The intention isn't to chase it away, hate it, worry about it, or be frightened by it. So what exactly should you be doing concerning such thoughts and feelings? Simply acknowledge their presence.

When you climb a beautiful mountain, invite your child within to climb with you. When you contemplate the sunset, invite her to enjoy it with you.

If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. It's so clear. Mindfulness is the energy and practice that helps you go back to the here and now so that you encounter life.

If we want peace, we have to be peace. Peace is a practice and not a hope.

Breath remains the vehicle to unite body and mind and to open the gate to wisdom.

Be in touch with what is wondrous, refreshing, and healing, both inside and around yourself.

Machine thinking is the opposite of mindfulness. If we're really engaged in mindfulness when walking along the path to the village, then we will consider the act of each step we take as an infinite wonder, and a joy will open our hearts like a flower, enabling us to enter the world of reality.

When there is mist on the mountains, it is beautiful, and when there is no mist, it is also beautiful. All four seasons are beautiful. [...] There is nothing to stop you from being in touch with life in the present moment. The question is, Do you have eyes that can see the sunset, feet that can touch the earth? [...] Don't think that happiness will be possible only when conditions around you become perfect. Happiness lies in your own heart.

Fear is based on ignorance. Lack of understanding is also a primary cause of anger.

You have to realize that happiness is not something you find at the end of the road. You have to understand that it is here, now.

The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. The most important person is always the person you are with, who is right before you

When we pay attention to our breathing, our in-breath and out-breath become peaceful and relaxed. When we walk with attention and we just walk without thinking or being carried away by anything, we already begin to heal.

You can arrange your schedule so you have enough time to eat. The place and teh food should be appropriate. Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are. Tell me where you eat, and I will tell you who you are.

The best position for practicing this is lying down. You focus your attention on a part of your body, such as your heart. As you breathe in, you become aware of your heart, and as you breathe out, you smile towards it. You send it your love, your tenderness.