reflection
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Meditation
is the soul's perspective glass.
Owen Felltham |
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Some people think that
meditation takes time away from physical
accomplishment. Taken to extremes, of course, that's true.
Most people,
however, find that meditation creates more time than it
takes.
Peter McWilliams
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We could say that meditation doesn't have a
reason or doesn't have a purpose. In this respect it's
unlike almost all other things we do except perhaps
making
music and dancing. When we make music we don't do it in
order to reach
a certain point, such as the end of the
composition. If that were the purpose of music
then
obviously the fastest players would be the best. Also, when
we are dancing we
are not aiming to arrive at a particular
place on the floor as in a journey. When we
dance, the
journey itself is the point, as when we play music the
playing itself is
the point. And exactly the same thing is
true in meditation. Meditation is the
discovery that the
point of life is always arrived at in the immediate
moment.
Alan Watts
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The more intense the nature of a
person, the
more readily will he or she
find meditation, and the more
successfully will he or she practice it.
James Allen
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It is not the number of books you read, nor
the variety
of sermons you hear, nor the amount of religious
conversation
in which you mix, but it is the frequency and
earnestness with
which you meditate on these things till the
truth in them
becomes your own and part of your being, that
ensures your growth.
Frederick William Robertson
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Through
meditation and by giving full attention to one thing at a
time,
we can learn to direct attention where we choose.
Eknath Easwaran |
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A wise teacher, instructing his students to
meditate, told them, "The process is like filling a
sieve with water." All of the students were
confused by this statement. How was it possible to
fill a sieve with water? Some thought it meant
meditation was very difficult, and others thought it meant
they could only expect temporary gains from their
practice. Discouraged, they stopped meditating.
One student, however, approached the teacher and asked him
to explain.
The teacher took the student to the edge of the ocean, gave
him a sieve, and told him to try to fill it with
water. The student scooped the water into the sieve,
but it immediately ran out. The teacher took the sieve
from the student and said, "I will show you
how." The teacher threw the sieve into the water,
where it sank almost immediately. He told the student,
"The sieve is full of water now and will stay that way
forever. Meditation works the same way. It's not
about scooping small amounts of Spirit into your individual
life, but about dropping yourself into the ocean of Spirit
and merging with that Spirit more and more each day."
unattributed, told by Marci Shimoff |
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Meditation
is not a way
of making
your mind quiet. It's a way of
entering into
the quiet that's
already there—
buried under
the 50,000
thoughts the average
person
thinks every day.
Deepak Chopra
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Sleep is the best meditation.
the Dalai Lama |
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Meditation
is not to escape from society, but to come
back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there
is
seeing, there must be acting. With mindfulness, we
know
what to do and what not to do to help.
Thich Nhat Hanh
What's the point of walking meditation? Why do I practice
sitting
meditation? Because I like it. There's no point doing these
practices
if you don't enjoy them. It's not hard labour. Every breath
can bring us peace, joy and freedom.
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Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is
when you listen to God.
Diana Robinson
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reflection
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Fishing provides that
connection with the whole living world. It gives you
the
opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into
yourself in a
good way. A form of meditation, some form of
communion with levels
of yourself that are deeper than the
ordinary self.
Ted Hughes
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A good meditation, even
when it is interrupted by occasional nodding,
is much more
beneficial than many outward religious exercises.
Johannes Tauler
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Meditation
is not some strange technique that we have to learn with
great effort and difficulty. Whatever we accomplish in
this world we
accomplish through the power of concentration, which is
nothing but
meditation. Above all, meditation stills the wandering
mind
and establishes us forever in a state of peace.
Muktananda |
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We
spend a great deal of time telling God what we think should
be done,
and not enough time waiting in the stillness for God to tell
us what to do.
Peace Pilgrim |
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Meditation provides
a way of learning how to let go. As we sit,
the self we've been trying to construct and make into a
nice,
neat package continues to unravel.
John Welwood |
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If I had not been already
been meditating, I would certainly have had to start.
I've
treated my own depression for many years with exercise and
meditation,
and I've found that to be a tremendous help.
Judy Collins |
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The idea is not to become a mere sloth,
sitting on your behind
with a vacant mind. It is
rather to get into the position of being
able to concentrate
enormously, so that
you can, so to speak,
look with all your
energy--so that you do not miss a thing.
Paul Weinpahl
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The practice of reflective meditation,
which consists of holding certain
ideas in the mind long enough to enable them to form
emotional connections,
tends to break up the crust of habit and to create a new
will.
Walter M. Horton |
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Meditation
is not a matter of trying to achieve ecstasy, spiritual
bliss or
tranquility, nor is it attempting to be a better
person. It is simply the
creation of a space in which we are able to expose and undo
our
neurotic games, our self-deceptions, our hidden fears and
hopes.
Chögyam Trungpa |
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There
is no necessity for a technique or formula for
meditation. Inner
feeling, or inner knowing, is the Silent Voice of
inspiration.
Walter Russell |
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The
purpose of meditation practice is not enlightenment; it is
to pay attention
even at extraordinary times, to be of the present,
nothing-but-in-the-present,
to bear this mindfulness of now into each event of ordinary
life.
Peter Matthiessen |
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I
believe that reading and writing are the most nourishing
forms of
meditation anyone has so far found. By reading the
writings of the
most interesting minds in history, we meditate with our own
minds and theirs as well. This to me is a miracle.
Kurt Vonnegut
Palm Sunday |
reflection
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It is never too late to
turn on the light. Your ability to break an unhealthy habit
or turn off an old tape doesn't depend on how long it has
been running; a shift
in perspective doesn't depend on how long you've held on to
the old view.
When you flip the switch in that attic, it
doesn't matter whether its been dark
for ten minutes, ten years or ten decades.
The light still illuminates the room and
banishes the murkiness, letting you see
the things you couldn't see before.
Its never too late to take a moment to look.
Sharon Salzberg
Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation
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Make
your judgment trustworthy by trusting it. Cultivate
regular periods
of silence and meditation. The best time to build
judgment is in solitude,
when you can think out things for yourself without the
probability of interruption.
Grenville Kleiser |
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Meditation
is, first of all, a tool for surveying our own territory so
we can
know what is going on. With the energy of mindfulness,
we can calm
things down, understand them, and bring harmony back to the
conflicting
elements inside us. If we can learn ways to touch the
peace, joy, and
happiness that are already there, we will become healthy and
strong,
and a resource for others.
Thich
Nhat Hanh
Living Buddha, Living Christ |
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quotations
- contents
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welcome
page
-
obstacles
the
people behind the words
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our
current e-zine
-
articles
and excerpts
Daily
Meditations, Year One - Year
Two - Year Three
- Year Four
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And when you try too
hard, it doesn't work. Try grabbing something
quickly and precisely with a tensed-up arm; then relax and
try it
again. Try doing something with a tense mind. The surest way
to
become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind
that tries too hard--one that thinks too much.
Benjamin
Hoff |
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Once,
at a seminar, I heard a Westernized lama say that a
meditator's state
of mind should be like that of a hotel doorman. A
doorman lets the guests
in, but he doesn't follow them up to their rooms. He
lets them out, but he
doesn't walk into the street with them to their next
appointment. He greets
them all, then lets them go on about their business.
Meditation is, in its
initial stages, simply accustoming oneself to letting
thoughts come and go
without grasping at their sleeves or putting up a velvet
rope to keep them out.
Marc Barasch |
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Learn how to
meditate on paper. Drawing and writing are forms of
meditation.
Learn how to contemplate works of art. Learn how to pray in
the streets or
in the country. Know how to meditate not only when you have
a book in your
hand but when you are waiting for a bus or riding in a
train.
Thomas Merton |
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Remember
one thing: meditation means awareness. Whatsoever you
do
with awareness is meditation. Action is not the
question, but the quality
that you bring to your action. Walking can be a
meditation if you walk
alertly. Sitting can be a meditation if you sit
alertly. Listening to the
birds can be a meditation if you listen with
awareness. Just listening
to the inner noise of your mind can be a meditation if you
remain alert and watchful.
Osho |
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There is no meditation without wisdom, and
there is no wisdom without meditation.
When one has both meditation and wisdom, that person is indeed
close to nirvana.
The Buddha |
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Meditation
is not a means to an end. It is both the means and the
end.
Jiddu Krishnamirti |
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The beauty of
meditative work is that it is possible to rely on
the practice itself to guide us through the maze. It
keeps us
on the path, even in the darkest of moments, facing the most
terrifying of our own mind states and external
circumstances.
It reminds us of our options. It is a guide to human
development,
a roadmap to our radiant selves, not to the gold of a
childhood
innocence already past, but to that of a fully developed
adult.
But, for meditation to do its work, we have to be willing to
do
ours. We must be willing to encounter darkness and
despair when
they come up and face them, over and over again if need be,
without running away or numbing ourselves in the thousands
of ways we conjure up to avoid the unavoidable.
Jon
Kabat-Zinn
Wherever
You Go, There You Are |
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Those
who are striving for knowledge will not get very far on the
highway of life unless some time is given to meditation and
contemplation; meditation on the past, that mistakes may not
be
repeated--contemplation on the future, that the learning and
experience of today may be profitably applied to tomorrow.
Fred van Amburgh |
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Meditation is a rich
and powerful method of study for anyone who knows
how to examine his or her own mind, and to employ it
vigorously, I would
rather shape my soul than furnish it. There is no
exercise that is either feebler
or more strenuous, according to the nature of the mind
concerned, than that
of conversing with one's own thoughts. The greatest
people make it their
vocation, "those for whom to live is to think"
[Cicero]. Moreover, nature
has favoured it with this privilege, that there is nothing
we can do for so long
at a time, nor any action to which we can apply ourselves
more frequently
and easily. It is the occupation of the gods, says
Aristotle,
the source from which comes their beatitude and ours.
Michel de
Montaigne
Essays |
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Meditation is
pure space, undisturbed by knowledge.
Osho
Discourses
Meditation is nothing but coming back home, just to have a
little
rest inside. It is not the chanting of a mantra, it is
not even a
prayer, it is just coming back home and having a little
rest. |
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Fortunately
we live in a time when all over the world many people are
becoming familiar with meditation. It is being
increasingly accepted as
a practice that cuts through and soars above cultural and
religious
barriers, and enables those who pursue it to establish a
direct contact
with the truth of their being. It is a practice that
at once transcends
the dogma of religions and is the essence of religions.
Sogyal Rinpoche
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying |
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Meditation
helps keep us from identifying with the "movies of the
mind."
Joan Borysenko |
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Meditation needs an
awake mind, not an unconscious one. . . . Meditation
is not something that should be done in a particular
position at a particular
time. It is an awareness and an attitude that must
persist throughout the day.
Annamalai Swami |
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Meditating
means bringing the mind back to something again and again.
Thus, we all meditate, but unless we direct it in some way,
we meditate
on ourselves and on our own problems, reinforcing our
self-clinging.
Yeshe Dorje |
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