Quotes About Meditation

Within Tibetan Buddhism, shamatha practice maps on to the nine stages of attentional development wherein thoughts gradually subside as concentrative power is increased to the point at which one can effortlessly maintain single-pointed focus on a chosen object for at least four hours. The accomplishment of shamatha is accompanied by a powerful experience of bliss, luminosity, and stillness.

She would try then not to think too strenuously about her whole life. She would try to live one day at a time, like an alcoholic – drink, don't drink, drink. Perhaps she should take drugs.

When you inhale, you are taking the strength from God. When you exhale, it represents the service you are giving to the world.

The yogi stills his mind by constant study and by freeing himself from desires. The eight stages of Yoga teach him the way.

whose mind is not steady doesn't get happiness either amongst the people or in the loneliness of the jungle. When lonely he longs for company and when in company he yearns for loneliness.

True concentration is an unbroken thread of awareness.

When we free ourselves from physical disabilities, emotional disturbances, and mental distractions, we open the gates to our soul.

We often fool ourselves that we are concentrating because we fix our attention on wavering objects.

The mind (manas) and the breath (prana) are intimately connected and the activity or the cessation of activity of one affects the other.

disturbances of the mind and emotions fade away, and we are able to see true reality.

There is something called "echo" exhalation that impresses this point even further. Exhale slowly and fully. Pause. Then exhale again. There is always a slight residue left in the lungs. In that residue is to be found the sludge of toxic memory and ego. In that brief further exhalation, let them go - and experience an even deeper state of relief from burden, of peace and emptiness.

Extend the energy of the asana out through your extremities. Let the river flow through you.

The mind does not balance when you force.

Inhalation is tension, exhalation is freedom.

Notice your eyes as well, as you hold the stretch. Tenseness of the eyes also affects the brain. If the eyes are still and silence the brain is still and passive.

Relaxation begins from the outer layer of the body and penetrates the deep layers of our existence.

As a farmer ploughs a field and makes the ground soft, a yogi ploughs his nerves so they can germinate and make a better life. This practice of yoga is to remove weeds from the body so that the garden can grow. If the ground it too hard, what life can grow there? If the body is too stiff and the mind is too rigid, what life can it live?

begins the Yoga S?tras with atha, meaning 'now', and ends with iti, 'that is all'. Besides this search for the soul, there is nothing.

Prana is special because it carries awareness. it is the vehicle of consciousness.

You have to tame your breath to tame your brain. Live from moment to moment absorbed in the unruffled flow of the circular movement of the in- and out-breaths. It's current should be like that of a very full, stately river, whose movements cannot be seen.

Pranayama is not performed by the power of will. The breath must be enticed or cajoled, like catching a horse in a field, not by chasing after it, but by standing still with an apple in one's hand.

If you want a simple way to remember the relationship between asana and concentration (dharana), it is this: If you learn a lot of little things, one day you may end up knowing a big thing.

If you say you are your body, you are wrong. If you say you are not your body, you are also wrong. The truth is that although body is born, lives, and dies, you cannot catch a glimpse of the divine except through the body.

After acting, reflect on what you have done. Has the brain interpreted the action correctly? If the brain does not observe correctly, then there is confusion in action. The duty of the brain is to receive knowledge from the body and then guide the body to further refine the action. Pause and reflect between each movement.