430 quotes found
“Meditation takes us just as we are, with our confusion and our sanity. This complete acceptance of ourselves as we are is called maitri, or unconditional friendliness, a simple, direct relationship...”
“In sitting meditation, we train in mindfulness and unconditional friendliness: in being steadfast with our bodies, our emotions, our thoughts.”
“Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better.”
“Even though there are so many teachings, so many meditations, so many instructions, the basic point of it all is just to learn to be extremely honest and also wholehearted about what exists in your...”
“In sitting meditation, our practice is to watch our thoughts arise, label them "thinking", and return to the breath.”
“This meditation is called nontheistic, which doesn't have anything to do with believing in God or not believing in God, but means that nobody but yourself can tell you what to accept and what to re...”
“In his talk, Suzuki Roshi says that meditation and the whole process of finding your own true nature is one continuous mistake, and that rather than that being a reason for depression or discourage...”
“It's helpful to always remind yourself that meditation is about opening and relaxing withwhatever arises, without picking and choosing.”
“Sitting meditation begins with good posture.”
“Sitting meditation gives us a way to move closer to our thoughts and emotions and to get in touch with our bodies.”
“Meditation practice is how we discover basic goodness and learn to cultivate bodhichitta. With this view, practice, and activity, even the most mundane situation becomes a vehicle for awakening.”
“Yesterday I talked about cultivating precision, gentleness, and openess, and described how the meditation technique helps us to remember the qualities that we already possess.”
“If the object of meditation were something concrete, something solid and graspable - an image or a statue or a dot on the floor or a candle - it would be much more of a concentration exercise. But ...”
“If we emphasized only precision, our meditation might become quite harsh and militant. (...). One thing that is very helpful is to cultivate an overall sense of relaxation while you are doing the m...”
“The meditation technique itself cultivate precision, gentleness, and the ability to let go - qualities that are innate within us.”
“One of the main discoveries of meditation is seeing how we continually run away from the present moment, how we avoid being here just as we are.”
“It's very helpful to realize that being here, sitting in meditation, doing simple everyday things like working, walking outside, talking with people, bathing, using the toilet, and eating, is actua...”
“While we are sitting in meditation, we are simply exploring humanity and all of creation in the form of ourselves.”
“The path of meditation and the path of our lives altogether ha to do with curiosity, inquisitiveness.”
“We're here to get to know and study ourselves. The path, the way to do that, our main vehicle, is going to be meditation, and some sense of general wakefulness.”
