Quotes About Meditation

Know that the true dharma emerges of itself [during the practice of zazen], clearing away hindrances and distractions.

Working with plants, trees, fences and walls, if they practice sincerely they will attain enlightenment.

Your body is like a dew-drop on the morning grass, your life is as brief as a flash of lightning. Momentary and vain, it is lost in a moment. (From 'Fukan zazengi')

When Babaji has drawn you to him, everything is given to you in his own shadow. One must learn this and drive away worries from the mind.

The longest journeyIs the journey inwardsOf him who has chosen his destiny.

Your body must become familiar with its death - in all its possible forms and degrees - as a self-evident, imminent, and emotionally neutral step on the way towards the goal you have found worthy of your life.

The longest journey is the journey inward.

In the point of rest at the center of our being, we encounter a world where all things are at rest in the same way. Then a tree becomes a mystery, a cloud a revelation, each man a cosmos of whose riches we can only catch glimpses. The life of its simplicity is simple, but it opens to us a book in which we never get beyond the first syllable.

Whatever forms of meditation you practice, the most important point is to apply mindfulness continuously, and make a sustained effort. It is unrealistic to expect results from meditation within a short period of time. What is required is continuous sustained effort.

If one's life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity is extremely important for happiness. Having few desires, feeling satisfied with what you have, is very vital: satisfaction with just enough food, clothing, and shelter to protect yourself from the elements. And finally, there is an intense delight in abandoning faulty states of mind and in cultivating helpful ones in meditation.

In the Buddha's life story we see the three stages of practice: Morality comes first, then concentrated meditation, and then wisdom. And we see that the path takes time.

Sleep is the best meditation.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

Whether you call it Buddhism or another religion, self-discipline, that's important. Self-discipline with awareness of consequences.

It was silence so dense that it ceased to be silence.

I've let it remain as it was to see what it is.

I like to compare spirituality to riding a bicycle. You can believe with every fiber of your being that it's possible to ride a bicycle, but until you start practicing you won't be able to do it. Spirituality has to be about action, not belief.

it) was like being under the sea, in aquamarine light. However bright or loud your surroundings, you were somehow always alone.

Wat altijd gebeurt als ze nadenkt over doodgaan. Je lichaam weet, ook al houden je hersens zich dom.

But the ritual can be good too. It focuses the mind on the act of belief. Devotion through deed is fair enough, but most of the time all you're thinking about is the deed itself, not the devotion. Making time to go to the temple reminds you it's just about the divine. About you and your relationship to the power above us all.

A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking.

Feel the flowing life energy." "Yesssssssssssssss…" "Can you see the universe unfolding in your mind?" Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Swami Havabanana

But don't let the trendiness fool you. A multitude of studies suggest that the ancient practice of mindfulness meditation actually holds promise as a way to improve cognitive abilities, to increase attention, expand working memory, and raise fluid intelligence. Some of the best are by one of the most respected psychologists in the United States, Michael Posner, professor emeritus at the University of Oregon and former chair of its psychology department.