Quotes About Presence

You taught me about concentration. At first I thought that meant just being still, but I was to understand it meant much more. You meant to tell me to be where I was, not some place in the past or future. I worried too much about tomorrow.

When practiced, Sabbath-keeping is an active protest against a culture that is always on, always available and always looking for something else to do.

Love in response to goodness isn't love, but reward. Fortunately for us, that's not God's way. Our relationship with God is not a matter of reward, but of love. And that's why we can enjoy such staggering freedom in his presence.

There's an ancient term, widely used by writers of Celtic spirituality. It talks of 'thin places'; places where the gap between earth and heaven is said to be very narrow; places where you can sense God more strongly than in the mundane monotony of

He had thrilled to his own power only in the throes of sex, when he didn't have the presence of mind to know that pleasure wouldn't last forever, and in the flush of freedom, when he was too innocent to know he wasn't free. Now he seized the power that came from that collision of sex with freedom called love.

Mindfulness of the body is awareness of... the taste and smell of this moment.

We often think we know things when in fact it's only our imagination taking us further and further away from what is actually happening. What we imagine then seems very real to us. Soon we're caught up in our imaginary longings and loathings. But if you're here - truly present - you realize there's nothing to run from or to go after. You can stay calm...Just be with this moment and see what's going on. (9)

As we live out of such a mind, we become generous, with no sense of tolerance. We become patient, with no sense of putting up with anything. We become compassionate, with no sense of separation. And we become wise, with no sense of having to straighten anyone out.

Buddha is not someone you pray to, or try to get something from. Nor is a buddha someone you bow down to. A buddha is simply a person who is awake—nothing more or less.

We can only be here. We can't leave. We are always here.

When you get famous or rich and maybe you think that you wish I was there to see it, remember that one way or the other I am.

Do not let your TODAY be stolen by the ghost of yesterday or the "To-Do" list of tomorrow!"

We only have now! Everything else is either imagination or memory."

We must abide in Christ moment by moment, realizing that without His empowering presence the serpent of self-sufficiency will strike us, infecting us with it's poison.

If a church represents the efforts of the devout to invite God to join them in a place created by people, then a forest is a place where God already resides, and people can choose to recognize or ignore his presence.

Tell yourself that this is the place you're meant to be, at least for now. Let your present situation be your entire world, at least for now. Then you'll sense something far better than the discord of endless desires: the ease and grace of acceptance and the joy of truly being where you are.

Just for a moment let your mind be quiet and see how fears evaporate see how desires withdraw like the claws of an animal that's no longer threatened.

Eventually, I decided that if he opened his eyes again and saw me there, it'd be uncomfortable for both of us, and Barlen preserve me from ever being uncomfortable.

I want to say now that the voice takes up space, in two senses. It inhabits and occupies space; and it also actively procures space for itself. The voice takes place in space, because the voice is space.

If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people. —Thich Nhat Hanh, Present Moment Wonderful Moment

Dead ain't gone, and gone ain't dead.

I think the beard plays a slight factor to my presence on the mound. It's kind of part of the persona now. Everyone in Chicago embraced it, so I got to keep it. I can't ditch it now.

Drive slow and enjoy the scenery - drive fast and join the scenery.

You can manage your energy - just slow down and be.