Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
When forms begin to crumble there is always an opportunity for great deepening. By deepening I mean the arising of who you are beyond form.
Just as dogs love to chew bones, the mind loves to get its teeth into problems. That's why it does crossword puzzles and builds atom bombs.
Forgiveness happens naturally when you see that it has no purpose other than to strengthen a false sense of self, to keep the ego in place.
Surrendering only refers to this moment, whatever "is" at this moment - to accept unconditionally and fully whatever arises at this moment.
Is suffering really necessary? Yes and no. If you had not suffered as you have, there would be no depth to you, no humility, no compassion.
The moment that judgement stops through acceptance of what it is, you are free of the mind. You have made room for love, for joy, for peace.
Become friendly with the present moment, because if you do not become friendly with the present moment you cannot become friendly with life.
People look to time in expectation that it will eventually make them happy, but you cannot find true happiness by looking toward the future.
Be at least as interested in what goes on inside you as what happens outside. If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place.
When there's a teacher who embodies presence, then it seems to come for a while through that opening. The teacher is an opening to presence.
To be aware of little, quiet things, you need to be quiet inside. A high degree of alertness is required. Be still. Look. Listen. Be present.
If the structures of the human mind remain unchanged, we will always end up re-creating the same world, the same evils, the same dysfunction.
Just as without silence there could be no sound, you would not exist without the vital formless dimension that is the essence of who you are.
When the basis for your actions is inner alignment with the present moment, your actions become empowered by the intelligence of life itself.
To be conscious of Being, you need to reclaim consciousness from the mind. This is one of the most essential tasks on your spiritual journey.
When you are in the present moment, you break the continuity of your story, of past and future. Then true intelligence arises, and also love.
The ego is a false sense based on mental concepts. It is identification with the body and the mind-primarily identification with thought form.
A huge number of people are going through the process of awakening, some in the early stages, some in later stages, and it's wonderful to see.
Tragedy turns into comedy when you watch your own drama and realizing it as a mind-created fiction designed to create you a sense of identity.
Vigilance in oneself is very important. Vigilance means to be alert to what happens inside, so you can catch an old, collective habit pattern.
Often suffering is the trigger, or a spiritual teaching, or both. Call it readiness, or grace. This is the beginning of the awakening process.
The essence of every form is the deathless. Even the essence of a blade of grass is the deathless. And that's why the world of form is sacred.
We would destroy ourselves and the planet if no change happens, because of the amplification of the egoic state through science and technology.
Above all, the only thing you have to heal is the present thought. Get that right and the whole picture will change into one of harmony and joy.
If I thought it was my identity to be a spiritual teacher, that would be a delusion. It's not an identity. It's simply a function in this world.
Is there a difference between happiness and inner peace? Yes. Happiness depends on conditions being perceived as positive; inner peace does not.
Once you realize that a certain kind of food makes you sick, would you carry on eating that food and keep on asserting that it's okay to be sick?
You can always cope with the present moment, but you cannot cope with something that is only a mind projection - you cannot cope with the future.
The power is in you. The answer is in you. And you are the answer to all your searches: you are the goal. You are the answer. It's never outside.
All it takes is a simple choice, a simple decision: no matter what happens, I will create no more pain for myself. I will create no more problems.
Your primary purpose is to enable consciousness to flow into what you do. The secondary purpose is whatever you want to achieve through the doing.
Even in a moment of stress, you can say, "OK, can I enjoy the doing itself? Can I enjoy the flow of energy of this moment?" And of course you can!
Stressful energy arises when you think some future moment is more important than the present moment, and the doing becomes only a means to an end.
Every practice at some point will become a hindrance. No practice can ever take you there, to freedom, to liberation. That's important to realize.
Sense your presence, the naked, unveiled, unclothed beingness. It is untouched by young or old, rich or poor, good or bad, or any other attributes.
Form is emptiness, emptiness is form" states the Heart Sutra, one of the best known ancient Buddhist texts. The essence of all things is emptiness.
We have forgotten what rocks and plants still know - we have forgotten how to be - to be still - to be ourselves - to be where life is here and now
Terrorism is an example of that extreme madness. People blow themselves up just to kill others. Unconscious reaction to terrorism is equal madness.
I never went out and said, "I want to do this." I never do that. I wait for things to come to me, either within or without, and I go along with it.
Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike a signpost, it points beyond itself
It seems that most people need to experience a great deal of suffering before they will relinquish resistance and accept - before they will forgive.
The pain-body wants to survive, just like every other entity in existence, and it can only survive if it gets you to unconsciously identify with it.
Many people in this world are still so identified with every thought that arises in their head. There is not the slightest space of awareness there.
Always work with the present moment, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.
If I cannot live with myself, there must be two of me: the 'I' and the 'self' that 'I' cannot live with. Maybe, I thought, only one of them is real.
People had been writing to me and saying, "Can you write something for children?" I felt I couldn't quite do it myself because I never had children.
When you are trapped in a nightmare, your motivation to awaken will be so much greater than that of someone caught up in a relatively pleasant dream.
If you are not in alignment with the moment, life is a struggle. Really, all you have to do is take responsibility for your inner alignment with now.
Nations consist of individuals. It is for every individual to bring in a different quality - the quality of awakened consciousness - into their lives.
When you are aligned with the now internally, when you take responsibility for this moment, then life is helpful and tends to bring you what you need.