Quotes About Meditation

There's a special feeling you get on a veranda that you just can't get anywhere else.

Somerset Maugham once wrote that in each shave lies a philosophy. I couldn't agree more. No matter how mundane some action might appear, keep at it long enough and it becomes contemplative, even meditative act.

As I run I tell myself to think of a river. And clouds. But essentially I'm thinking of not a thing. All I do is keep on running in my own cozy, homemade void, my own nostalgic silence. And this is a pretty wonderful thing. No matter what anybody else says.

There are some things that can't be explained in this life," Menshiki went on, "and some others that probably shouldn't be explained. Especially when putting them into words ignores what is most crucial.

writing was like breathing.

In those days I used to talk to myself as if reciting poetry.

We have a sane part of our minds and an insane part. We negotiate between those two parts.

He could well imagine what the moon had given her: pure solitude and tranquillity. That was the best thing the moon could give a person.

No man should go through life without once experiencing healthy, even bored solitude in the wilderness, finding himself depending solely on himself and thereby learning his true and hidden strength.

and as long as I kept my body moving I could forget about the emptiness inside.

When there's nothing to do, you do nothing slowly and intently.

Wakeful nights often give people useless thoughts.

I've always enjoyed this time, early in the morning, gazing intently at a pure white canvas. "Canvas Zen" is my term for it. Nothing is painted there yet, but it's more than a simple blank space. Hidden on that white canvas is what must eventually emerge. As I look more closely, I discover various possibilities, which congeal into a perfect clue as to how to proceed. That's the moment I really enjoy. The moment when existence and nonexistence coalesce.

I hear things. Not sounds, but thick slabs of silence being dragged through the dark.

My process is thinking, thinking and thinking - thinking about my stories for a long time.

Whether we petition God to give us what we need, or thank Him for whatever good was granted, or extol Him for His awesome attributes, all prayer is intended to help make us into better human beings.

It is not how good we are at being Christians but how good we are at dwelling and resting in God.

bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

Unless we form the habit of going to the Bible in bright moments as well as in trouble, we cannot fully respond to its consolations because we lack equilibrium between light and darkness.

Unfortunately, poetry is not born in noise, in crowds, or on a bus. There have to be four walls and the certainty that the telephone will not ring. That's what writing is all about.

Generally, I can't really do much without music playing - even writing or thinking. Peace and quiet means putting on a song.

Writing, for me, is the great organiser. It's while writing that I think most deeply about things.

I think it's important to say typing in the computer is like the last, last phase of my writing process. That's kind of the fun part. Well, it's all somewhat fun, I suppose. But usually what happens is I think about a movie for at least a year - maybe a couple more - and I don't put anything down.

The writing process for me is pretty much always the same - it's a solitary experience.