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When you drop your hectic pursuit of gratification, the real beauty of life comes out.
The process of becoming who you will be begins first with the total acceptance of who you are.
We should consider the person who shows our shortcomings as one who excavates a hidden treasure of which we were unaware, since it is by knowing the existence of our deficiencies that we can improve ourselves.
One who speaks with resentment cannot be mindful and is unable to express himself clearly.
Our goal is to reach the perfection of all the noble and wholesome qualities latent in our subconscious mind.
All you should notice in all these occurrences is the impermanent, unsatisfactory, and selfless nature of all your experiences whether mental or physical.
Pain is inevitable, suffering is not.
Use your meditation to let go of all the egocentric attitudes that keep you trapped within your own limited viewpoint.
And then there are those days when it seems that the mind will never rest, but you can’t locate any apparent cause. Remember the cyclic alternation we spoke of earlier. Meditation goes in cycles. You have good days and you have bad days.
Above all, don’t get frustrated over the nonstop chatter of your mind. That babble is just one more thing to be mindful of.
Meditation is your friend. Come to regard it as such, and resistance will disappear like smoke on a summer breeze.
Generosity cancels greed. Benevolence and compassion cancel hatred.
Just as breathing comes in stages, so do the mental states. Every breath has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Every mental state has a birth, a growth, and a decay.
We have developed the habit of squandering our attention on all the remaining steps, focusing on the perception, cognizing the perception, labeling it, and most of all, getting involved in a long string of symbolic thought about it. That original moment of mindfulness is rapidly passed over. It is the purpose of vipassana meditation to train us to prolong that moment of awareness.
Mindfulness is nonjudgmental observation. It is that ability of the mind to observe without criticism. With this ability, one sees things without condemnation or judgment. One is surprised by nothing. One simply takes a balanced interest in things exactly as they are in their natural states. One does not decide and does not judge. One just observes.
(a) all conditioned things are inherently transitory; (b) every worldly thing is, in the end, unsatisfying; and (c) there are really no entities that are unchanging or permanent, only processes.
You cultivate mindfulness by constantly reminding yourself in a gentle way to maintain your awareness of whatever is happening right now. Persistence and a light touch are the secrets.
But don’t worry too much about that. This is not a race. You are not in competition with anybody, and there is no schedule.
The most important moment in meditation is the instant you leave the cushion. When your practice session is over, you can jump up and drop the whole thing, or you can bring those skills with you into the rest of your activities.
And in the midst of all this ceaseless movement, there is no watcher, there is only watching.
The Buddha said, “By surveying the entire world with my mind, I have not come across anyone who loves others more than himself. Therefore one who loves himself should cultivate this loving friendliness.” Cultivate loving friendliness toward yourself first, with the intention of sharing your kind thoughts with others.
