by Chad Foreman: Meditation quotes from masters can be powerful tools for contemplation…
In meditation traditions of old, the masters would hand down the essential advice of their system as ‘pith’ instructions. These where easy to remember and contained the condensed instructions of the master. Sometimes the students would go away for years just meditating on these essential pith instructions until the full realisations of them dawned.
In today’s world of social media we eat up memes and quotes by the dozen every day as we scroll through our news feeds. However to fully understand the meaning of just one of these quotes and to embody it would bring remarkable transformation in the a person’s being. That’s how powerful these pointing out instructions can be.
Please read carefully and contemplate each meditation quote below and take the time to fully absorb the wisdom it contains:
1) “Breathing in, I calm body and mind.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
2) “All that is necessary to awaken to yourself as the radiant emptiness of spirit is to stop seeking something more or better or different, and to turn your attention inward to the awake silence that you are.”
~ Adyashanti
3) “When meditation is mastered,
the mind is unwavering,
like the flame of a lamp in a windless place.”
~ Krishna
4) ”The mental suffering you create is always some form of non-acceptance,
some form of unconscious resistance to what is.
On the level of thought, the resistance is some form of judgment.
The intensity of the suffering depends on the degree of resistance to the present moment.”
~ Eckhart Tolle
5) “If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything.
In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.”
~ Shunryu Suzuki
6) “To be free from bondage the wise person must practise discrimination between One-Self and the ego-self.
By that alone you will become full of joy, recognizing Self as Pure Being, Consciousness and Bliss.”
~ Adi Shankara
7) “The ultimate meditation is: surrender to reality.
The more you fight, the more you are in conflict with it, the more you will be a loser.
In deep surrender, the ego disappears.
And when the ego is not there, for the first time you become aware of that which has always been there.”
~ Osho
8) “Learn to live without self concern.
For this you must know your own true being as indomitable, fearless and ever victorious.
Once you know with absolute certainty that nothing can trouble you but your own imagination,
you come to disregard your desires and fears, concepts and ideas, and live by truth alone.”
~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
9) “Integrated meditation practice is like a healthy diet
which is indispensable for maintaining your vitality and resistance to disease.
Likewise, a balanced meditative practice in the course of a socially engaged way of life heightens your psychological immune system, so that you are less vulnerable to mental imbalances of all kinds.”
~ Alan Wallace
10) “When one past thought has ceased and a future thought has not yet risen,
in that gap, in between, isn’t there a consciousness of the present moment;
fresh, virgin, unaltered by even a hair’s breadth of a concept, a luminous, naked awareness?
Well, that’s what naturally peaceful awareness is. ”
~ Sogyal Rinpoche
11) ”The ultimate way of Being lies beyond all contradictory pairs of opposites with which our two dimensional thinking mind operates. As soon as we are successful in silencing the restless activity of the thinking mind and give a chance to intuition, the pure all embracing spirit in us will manifest effortlessly.”
~ Lama Anagarika Govinda
12) “If your mind is happy then you are happy anywhere you go.
When wisdom awakens within you, you will see Truth wherever you look.
Truth is all there is. It’s like when you learned how to read, you can then read anywhere you go.”
~ Ajahn Chah
13) “Flow with whatever is happening and let your mind be free.
Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing.
This is the ultimate.”
~ Chuang Tzu
14) “To meditate means to realize inwardly the imperturbability of the Essence of Mind.
The reason why we are perturbed is because we allow ourselves to be carried away by the circumstances we are in. Those who are able to keep their mind unperturbed, irrespective of circumstances, have attained Inner Peace.”
~ Hui neng
15) “If you are unable to find the truth right where you are,
where else do you expect to find it?”
~ Dogen
16) “We live in illusion and the appearance of things.
There is a reality. We are that reality.
When you understand this, you see that you are nothing,
and being nothing, you are everything.
That is all.”
~ Kalu Rinpoche
17) “This is the real secret of life ~
to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now.
And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”
~ Alan Watts
18) “Life is this simple:we are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the divine is shining through it all the time. This is not just a nice story or a fable, it is true. ”
~ Thomas Merton
19) “If you are willing to experience anything directly and immediately, whether good or bad, joyous or hateful, you will recognize that what you are running from does not exist, and what you are running toward is already here.”
~ Gangaji
20) “Meditation is for you to realise that the deepest nature of your existence is beyond thoughts and emotions, that it is incredibly vast and interconnected with all other beings.”
~ Tenzin Palmo
