Quotes on Mindfulness

[Daniel E.]

“Those seeking to escape from suffering hasten right toward their own misery. And with the very desire for happiness, out of delusion they destroy their own well-being as if it were their enemy”

~ Shantideva (7th century Indian Buddhist)

 

[Daniel E.]

"Ambiguity is where the spiritual lies."

~ John Feodorov

 

[Daniel E.]

Presence is when you're no longer waiting for the next moment, believing that the next moment will be more fulfilling than this one.

~ Eckhart Tolle

 

[Daniel E.]

"Our life is the creation of our mind."

— Buddha

 

[Budoaiki]

"A true warrior is always armed with three things:
the radiant sword of pacification; the mirror of
bravery, wisdom, and friendship; and the precious
jewel of enlightenment."

-Morihei Ueshiba
(Founder of Aikido)
From "The Art of Peace"
translated and edited by John Stevens

 

[Modus.Ponens]

My favorite quote from the Buddha. It shows how moral virtues are important in the path to nirvana:

"Thus in this way, Ananda, skillful virtues have freedom from remorse as their purpose, freedom from remorse as their reward. Freedom from remorse has joy as its purpose, joy as its reward. Joy has rapture as its purpose, rapture as its reward. Rapture has serenity as its purpose, serenity as its reward. Serenity has pleasure as its purpose, pleasure as its reward. Pleasure has concentration as its purpose, concentration as its reward. Concentration has knowledge & vision of things as they actually are as its purpose, knowledge & vision of things as they actually are as its reward. Knowledge & vision of things as they actually are has disenchantment as its purpose, disenchantment as its reward. Disenchantment has dispassion as its purpose, dispassion as its reward. Dispassion has knowledge & vision of release as its purpose, knowledge & vision of release as its reward.

In this way, Ananda, skillful virtues lead step-by-step to the consummation of arahantship."

Ananda was an important monk. Rapture and pleasure are both sensations present in the first and second levels of concentration and we are suposed to spread them through every part of our body.

 

[Daniel E.]

Happiness is not a brilliant climax to years of grim struggle and anxiety. It is a long succession of little decisions simply to be happy in the moment. ~ J Donald Walters

 

[Daniel E.]

?Perhaps one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves is to be able to sit in not knowing.?

~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

---------- Post added December 26th, 2011 at 10:25 AM ---------- Previous post was December 25th, 2011 at 11:51 PM ----------

"Have patience with everything unresolved and try to love the questions themselves."

~ Rilke

 

[Daniel E.]

"Mindfulness is not about being calm. Calm is just a common natural side effect. Mindfulness is about learning how to become more aware of our entire spectrum of experience."

Bringing Mindfulness to Schools: An Interview with Co-Founder Megan Cowan

---------- Post added January 17th, 2012 at 02:50 PM ---------- Previous post was January 16th, 2012 at 07:14 PM ----------

"We are more interested in inner growth than in materialism, in intuition than reason, cooperation than competition, compassion rather than criticism." ~ Zen and the Lady

"Can you imagine yourself as a river, rather than as a machine?"
~ James Bugental

 

[Daniel E.]

"Wake up to see that you are safe."

~ Pavel Somov, PhD

 

[Daniel E.]

Meditation is a workout of letting go of all that you aren't.

~ Pavel Somov

 

[Daniel E.]

Self-critical persons might benefit most from “acceptance,” obsessive patients might be helped by focusing on “present moment sensations,” and people with impulse control disorders might benefit most from greater “awareness”—observing the precursors to problem behaviors such as drinking, gambling, or overeating.

~ Ronald Siegel et al, Mindfulness: What Is It? Where Did It Come From?

Not through actions, not through words
do we become free from mental contaminations,
but seeing and acknowledging them over and over.

– Anguttara Nikaya, 557–477 B.C.

 

[Modus.Ponens]

Self-critical persons might benefit most from “acceptance,” obsessive patients might be helped by focusing on “present moment sensations,” and people with impulse control disorders might benefit most from greater “awareness”—observing the precursors to problem behaviors such as drinking, gambling, or overeating.

~ Ronald Siegel et al, Mindfulness: What Is It? Where Did It Come From?

Not through actions, not through words
do we become free from mental contaminations,
but seeing and acknowledging them over and over.

– Anguttara Nikaya, 557–477 B.C.

I'm quite impressed _ and pleased _ that the Anguttara Nikaya is being quoted here! I think it's the largest subcollection of the Buddha's discourses.

 

[Modus.Ponens]

 

[Daniel E.]

The middle way is a view of life that avoids the extreme of misguided grasping born of believing there is something we can find, or buy, or cling to that will not change. And it avoids the despair and nihilism born from the mistaken belief that nothing matters, that all is meaningless.

Sharon Salzberg

 

[Daniel E.]

?People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.?

~Thich Nhat Hanh

 

[Daniel E.]

"Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear."

“Perfection is the willingness to be imperfect.”

~ Lao-Tzu

 

[Daniel E.]

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

~ Rumi

 

[Daniel E.]

The stroke has given me another way to serve people. It lets me feel more deeply the pain of others; to help them know by example that ultimately, whatever happens, no harm can come. 'Death is perfectly safe,' I like to say.

~ Ram Dass

 

[PrincessX]

"The trees teach me to breathe again. The grass teaches me to walk in peace."
Mary Pocock