Quotes About Presence

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.

The only place where we can touch Jesus and the Kingdom of God is within us.

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.

Friends, being lost in thoughts is one of the things that prevents us from making true contact with life. If you are ruled by worry, frustration, anxiety, anger, or jealousy, you will lose the chance to make real contact with all the wonders of life.

When we take a moment to sit and breathe before we eat, we can get in touch with the real hunger in our body. We can discover if we're eating because we're hungry or if we're eating because it's the time to eat and the food is there.

The most effective way to show compassion to another is to listen, rather than talk. You have an opportunity to practice deep, compassionate listening. If you can listen to the other person with compassion, your listening is like a salve for her wound. In the practice of compassionate listening, you listen with only one purpose, which is to give the other person the chance to speak out and to suffer less.

If you know how to go back to her and listen carefully every day for five or ten minutes, healing will take place.

The fruit of mindfulness practice is the realization that peace and joy are available within us and around us, right here and right now.

We disregard the wonders of the present moment, thinking that heaven and the ultimate are for later, not for now.

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

To be alive is the greatest of all miracles, and you can rejoice in being alive. When you breathe in this way, your breath is a celebration of life.

Mindfulness is the continuous practice of touching deeply every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly present with your body and your mind, to bring harmony to your intentions and actions, and to be in harmony with those around you.

Looking deeply means observing something or someone with so much concentration that the distinction between observer and observed disappears.

Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.

We tend to postpone being alive to the future, the distant future, we don't know when. It's as if now is not the moment to be alive. We may never be alive at all in our entire life.

Mindfulness frees us of forgetfulness and dispersion and makes it possible to live fully each minute of life. Mindfulness enables us to live.

You've got to practice meditation when you walk, stand, lie down, sit, and work, while washing your hands, washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, drinking tea, talking to friends, or whatever you are doing: "While washing the dishes, you might be thinking about the tea afterwards, and so try to get them out of the way as quickly as possible in order to sit and drink tea. But that means that you are incapable of living during the time you are washing the dishes.

Whatever the tasks, do them slowly and with ease, in mindfulness.

Often in daily life, our body and mind may not be together. Sometimes our body is here but our mind is lost in the past or in the future. We may be possessed by anger, hatred, jealousy, or anxiety. If we practice the teaching of the Buddha on how to breathe mindfully, we bring mind and body together, and they become one again. This is what is meant by the expression, "oneness of body and mind.

Don't chase after your thoughts as a shadow follows its object. Don't run after your thoughts. Find joy and peace in this very moment .

The past no longer exists, and the future is not here yet.

To practice aimlessness is to identify what it is you're looking for, waiting for, or running after, and let it go.

it is always possible to practice "I have arrived, I am home." I have run all my life; I am not going to run anymore; now I am determined to stop and really live my life. When