Quotes on Mindfulness

[Daniel E.]

Boredom as imbalance:

"Boredom is a function of attention. We are learning new modes of attention — say, favoring the ear more than the eye— but so long as we work within the old attention-frame we find X boring … e.g. listening for sense rather than sound (being too message-oriented). Possibly after repetition of the same single phrase or level of language or image for a long while — in a given written text or piece of music or film, if we become bored, we should ask if we are operating in the right frame of attention. Or — maybe we are operating in one right frame, where we should be operating in two simultaneously, thus halving the load on each (as sense and sound)."

~ Susan Sontag

 

[Daniel E.]

“The compassionate mind is like an elixir: It has the strength to turn adverse situations into beneficial circumstances.”

~ Dalai Lama XIV

 

[Daniel E.]

“Small is not just a stepping-stone. Small is a great destination itself.”

―Jason Fried

 

[Daniel E.]

Examples of McMindfulness:



(The two quotes headlining the article "Notes Toward a Coming Backlash: Mindfulness as an Opiate of the Middle Classes.")

 

[Daniel E.]

The mindful imperative to "accept things as they are" while practicing "nonjudgemental, present moment awareness" acts a social anesthesia, preserving the status quo.





― Ronald Purser, McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality

 

[Daniel E.]

“Science can contribute toward assisting with techniques of stress reduction — and research already shows that our survival and sustainability depends on our global cooperation as interdependent beings — but by itself, science cannot provide the values for a moral, meaningful life.”

― David Forbes, Mindfulness and Its Discontents: Education, Self, and Social Transformation

 

[Daniel E.]

Upekṣā - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

American Buddhist monk Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote:

"The real meaning of upekkha is equanimity, not indifference in the sense of unconcern for others. As a spiritual virtue, upekkha means stability in the face of the fluctuations of worldly fortune. It is evenness of mind, unshakeable freedom of mind, a state of inner equipoise that cannot be upset by gain and loss, honor and dishonor, praise and blame, pleasure and pain. Upekkha is freedom from all points of self-reference; it is indifference only to the demands of the ego-self with its craving for pleasure and position, not to the well-being of one's fellow human beings. True equanimity is the pinnacle of the four social attitudes that the Buddhist texts call the 'divine abodes': boundless loving-kindness, compassion, altruistic joy, and equanimity. The last does not override and negate the preceding three, but perfects and consummates them."

 

[Daniel E.]

“Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.”

“The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.”

“A scholar tries to learn something everyday; a student of Buddhism tries to unlearn something daily.”

“When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.”

― Alan Watts

 

[Daniel E.]

"Success is less about obtaining good, and more about allowing good."

~ Alan Cohen

 

[David Baxter PhD]

"Success is less about obtaining good, and more about allowing good."

~ Alan Cohen

I don't get this one.

 

[Daniel E.]

It reminds me of when one thinks one doesn't deserve to be happy, or can't imagine being happy.

When I was in college, my first philosophy professor was a Buddhist scholar, and he would comment on my term paper about anything that was against inherent happiness

 

[Daniel E.]

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need."

— Lao Tzu

 

[Daniel E.]

“Enjoy each step, for in every moment there is something to learn.”

― John P Strelecky

 

[Daniel E.]

“Every single fruit and vegetable you've ever eaten has ripened under the same sun - the same sun that wakes you up every morning, the same sun that lights your days, the very same sun for all of us. It is a simple but remarkable thing to think that all life on earth is nourished by the light of a single star.”

― Unknown

 

[Daniel E.]

“Sometimes the heart of a matter is a matter of the heart.”

― Keffi Rosita

 

[Daniel E.]

"Sabi beauty reminds us of our own connection with the past, of the natural cycle of life, and of our very own mortality."

"Over time, the word sabi has come to communicate a deep and tranquil beauty that emerges with the passage of time."

"Japanese beauty is discovered in the experiencing, not just the seeing."

~ Beth Kempton, Wabi Sabi

 

[Daniel E.]

 

[Daniel E.]

 

[Daniel E.]

“Courage is saying maybe what I'm doing isn't working, maybe I should try something else.”

"Hope doesn't come from calculating whether the good news is winning out over the bad. Its simply a choice to take action."

~ Anne Lappe

 

[Daniel E.]

Dopamine fasting: Misunderstanding science spawns a maladaptive fad

Dopamine fasting: Misunderstanding science spawns a maladaptive fad by Peter Grinspoon, MD, Harvard Health Blog Feb 26, 2020 The dopamine fast, created by California psychiatrist Dr. Cameron Sepah, has very little to do with either fasting or dopamine. As Sepah told the New York Times...

forum.psychlinks.ca

"The dopamine fasters are depriving themselves of healthy things, for no reason, based on faulty science and a misinterpretation of a catchy title."

"The modern wellness industry has become so lucrative that people are creating snappy titles for age-old concepts."