“Be happy in the moment, that's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.”
― Mother Teresa
― Mother Teresa
- Thread starter David Baxter PhD
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“Most of us take for granted that time flies, meaning that it passes too quickly. But in the mindful state, time doesn't really pass at all. There is only a single instant of time that keeps renewing itself over and over with infinite variety.”
― Deepak Chopra
― Deepak Chopra
"Perform your duty without attachment, remaining equal to success or failure. Such equanimity of mind is called Yoga."
-- The Bhagavad Gita (quoted in "How I Found Ecstasy In Depression")
-- The Bhagavad Gita (quoted in "How I Found Ecstasy In Depression")
“The usual pattern is, first, of a break away or departure from the local social order and context; next, a long, deep retreat inward and backward, as it were, in time, and inward, deep into the psyche; a chaotic series of encounters there, darkly terrifying experiences, and presently (if the victim is fortunate) encounters of a centering kind, fulfilling, harmonizing, giving new courage; and then finally, in such fortunate cases, a return journey of rebirth to life.”
~ Joseph Campbell, Myths to Live By
~ Joseph Campbell, Myths to Live By
David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
What is Campbell talking about here, @Daniel?
The "hero's journey," which is a metaphor for a lot of things, including the process of becoming a wounded healer.
In the Bill Moyers interviews with Campbell (which were popular on PBS decades ago), Campbell says we all hopefully go through this process on some level.
In the Bill Moyers interviews with Campbell (which were popular on PBS decades ago), Campbell says we all hopefully go through this process on some level.
"Colors are the smiles of nature."
~ Leigh Hunt
~ Leigh Hunt
"While mindfulness can bring idyllic moments of deep peace, it can also be invaluable when facing emotional challenges. Mindfulness helps us be more grateful during good moments and graceful during more difficult ones."
~ Elisha Goldstein
~ Elisha Goldstein
“Stress is caused by being "here" but wanting to be "there", or being in the present moment but wanting to be in the future. You can move fast, work fast, or run without projecting yourself into the future and without resisting the present. As you move, do it totally, enjoying the flow of energy at that moment. Or when you do nothing and the mind says "you should be working. You are wasting time" - observe the mind. Smile at it!”
― Eckhart Tolle, The Power Of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
― Eckhart Tolle, The Power Of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
"In today's rush we all think too much, seek too much, want too much and forget about the joy of just Being."
― Eckhart Tolle
― Eckhart Tolle
From an essay by my first philosophy professor:
"Buddhism is a pessimistic philosophy, but only in the sense that it insists that happiness, as we ordinarily conceive of it, is unattainable. It is optimistic insofar as it maintains that true happiness is humanly possible, but only if we see things as they really are and relinquish our desires. Yet, even if we would be happier as renunciants, would our lives be better? To answer this question, we must understand the relationship between happiness and the good life. I argue that happiness is a complex psychological state involving affective, cognitive, and motivational components. Buddhist practice seeks to cultivate these different dimensions of happiness and in this way lay the foundation for living a good life."
~ Charles Fink, PhD, Better to Be a Renunciant: Buddhism, Happiness, and the Good Life
"Buddhism is a pessimistic philosophy, but only in the sense that it insists that happiness, as we ordinarily conceive of it, is unattainable. It is optimistic insofar as it maintains that true happiness is humanly possible, but only if we see things as they really are and relinquish our desires. Yet, even if we would be happier as renunciants, would our lives be better? To answer this question, we must understand the relationship between happiness and the good life. I argue that happiness is a complex psychological state involving affective, cognitive, and motivational components. Buddhist practice seeks to cultivate these different dimensions of happiness and in this way lay the foundation for living a good life."
~ Charles Fink, PhD, Better to Be a Renunciant: Buddhism, Happiness, and the Good Life
"You should never be ashamed of the suffering you've been through." ~ Robert Thurman
"No one word, however shiny, however intriguingly Eastern, however bolstered by science, can ever fix the human condition. And that's what commercial mindfulness may have lost from the most rigorous Buddhist tenets it replaced: the implication that suffering cannot be escaped but must be faced."
-- Virginia Heffernan, The Muddied Meaning of Mindfulness
-- Virginia Heffernan, The Muddied Meaning of Mindfulness
"Wellness is meant to be good for us – not complicated, not expensive and not making us slaves of self-absorption."
~ Margaret McCartney, MD, Don't fall prey to the cult of wellness
~ Margaret McCartney, MD, Don't fall prey to the cult of wellness
“Mindfulness could also be described as "heartfulness" because it is really about a compassionate awareness.”
"We give up the things in life that we enjoy but seem "optional." The result is that we stop doing activities that would nourish us, leaving only work or other stressors that often deplete our resources."
“Unhappiness itself is not the problem—it is an inherent and unavoidable part of being alive. Rather, it’s the harshly negative views of ourselves that can be switched on by unhappy moods that entangle us. It is these views that transform passing sadness into persistent unhappiness and depression. Once these harsh, negative views of ourselves are activated, not only do they affect our mind, they also have profound effects on our body—and then the body in turn has profound effects on the mind and emotions.”
“What if, like virtually everybody else who suffers repeatedly from depression, you have become a victim of your own very sensible, even heroic, efforts to free yourself—like someone pulled even deeper into quicksand by the struggling intended to get you out?”
“Expectations can become goals, which only get in the way of the experience we are having in this moment.”
“Our emotional reactions depend on the story we tell ourselves, the running commentary in the mind that interprets the data we receive through our senses.”
“See our thoughts as mental events that come and go in the mind like clouds across the sky.”
“Ideas about our own self-worth are no more real than thoughts about an imaginary chair.”
“But what if there is nothing “wrong” with you at all?”
― The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness
"We give up the things in life that we enjoy but seem "optional." The result is that we stop doing activities that would nourish us, leaving only work or other stressors that often deplete our resources."
“Unhappiness itself is not the problem—it is an inherent and unavoidable part of being alive. Rather, it’s the harshly negative views of ourselves that can be switched on by unhappy moods that entangle us. It is these views that transform passing sadness into persistent unhappiness and depression. Once these harsh, negative views of ourselves are activated, not only do they affect our mind, they also have profound effects on our body—and then the body in turn has profound effects on the mind and emotions.”
“What if, like virtually everybody else who suffers repeatedly from depression, you have become a victim of your own very sensible, even heroic, efforts to free yourself—like someone pulled even deeper into quicksand by the struggling intended to get you out?”
“Expectations can become goals, which only get in the way of the experience we are having in this moment.”
“Our emotional reactions depend on the story we tell ourselves, the running commentary in the mind that interprets the data we receive through our senses.”
“See our thoughts as mental events that come and go in the mind like clouds across the sky.”
“Ideas about our own self-worth are no more real than thoughts about an imaginary chair.”
“But what if there is nothing “wrong” with you at all?”
― The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness
“Each electrical pulse—and resulting squirt of neurotransmitter—is not an order commanding the next neuron’s actions; it is more like a vote on what the next neuron should do. The whole pattern of activity is like a presidential election. Everyone votes on who the president should be, and depending on those votes, the country veers off in one direction or another. If you can change the number of votes in a few key swing states by only a few percentage points, you can dramatically change the course of the country. The same is true of the brain. By changing the firing rate of neurons in a few key regions, you can influence the pattern of activity in the entire brain.”
“Worrying is often triggered by wanting to make the perfect choice or by trying to maximize everything. When buying a used car, you want one that is cheap, reliable, safe, sexy, the right color, and fuel efficient. Unfortunately, no single option is likely to be the best in all those dimensions. If you try to have the best of everything, you’re likely to be paralyzed by indecision or dissatisfied with your choice. In fact, this kind of “maximizing” has been proven to increase depression.”
― Alex Korb, The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time
“Worrying is often triggered by wanting to make the perfect choice or by trying to maximize everything. When buying a used car, you want one that is cheap, reliable, safe, sexy, the right color, and fuel efficient. Unfortunately, no single option is likely to be the best in all those dimensions. If you try to have the best of everything, you’re likely to be paralyzed by indecision or dissatisfied with your choice. In fact, this kind of “maximizing” has been proven to increase depression.”
― Alex Korb, The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time
We can find peace in chaos. The illusion is that financial comfort, stability, monogamy, and permanence are guarantees of safety and security...By honoring yourself and listening to your own inner voice (while managing the voices around you), true security can be found within yourself--even in the midst of day-to-day challenges.
-- Ramani Durvasula, PhD, You Are WHY You Eat: Change Your Food Attitude, Change Your Life
-- Ramani Durvasula, PhD, You Are WHY You Eat: Change Your Food Attitude, Change Your Life
"Anything you believe you have to do or become before you can be whole is a denial and distraction from the truth that you are already whole."
~ Alan Cohen
~ Alan Cohen
“We don’t have to be at the mercy of algorithms that are promoting the fear of missing out.”
~ Jack Kornfield, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/well/mind/putting-down-your-phone-may-help-you-live-longer.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR3v_3O9ItA01mjiipYOmAehgIpeei4qIFE_VHVnqY92qzk49iOQ6wb9MEY
~ Jack Kornfield, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/well/mind/putting-down-your-phone-may-help-you-live-longer.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR3v_3O9ItA01mjiipYOmAehgIpeei4qIFE_VHVnqY92qzk49iOQ6wb9MEY
“We discover selflessness gradually, but always the prerequisite is being present. When we can be present with an emotion without any distractions, we find out very quickly how insubstantial, how fleeting it is. When you’re no longer so entangled in your emotions, then you can experience their power directly. Their intensity, their dynamic energy, rather than scaring you, wakes you up. You don’t discover this by trying to transcend the bitterness of life. You discover it by taking your place in the charnel ground with the confidence that this is where you belong. This is where you wake up.”
Pema Chödrön, Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change
Pema Chödrön, Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change
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