Spiritual Practice Quotes

“There is a saying that 'the psychotic drowns in the waters that the mystic swims in.' The health and structural integrity of the ego means the difference between spiritual emergence, the unfolding of a transpersonal identity; and a spiritual emergency a crisis brought on by the same unfolding, during which the foundations of sanity can be shaken.”
― Jason Kirkey, The Salmon in the Spring: The Ecology of Celtic Spirituality

“Good fiction writers have an instinctive understanding of human nature. That's what makes stories and characters captivating. Good spiritual writers share what they sincerely practice themselves.”
― Donna Goddard

“When some great teachers of the past reflected on the rarity of human existence, they did not even feel like sleeping; they could not bear to waste a single moment. They put all their energy into spiritual practice.”
― Dilgo Khyentse, The Heart of Compassion: The Thirty-seven Verses on the Practice of a Bodhisattva

“The mind is by nature restless. Begin liberating it from its restlessness; give it peace, make it free from distractions, train it to look inward, and make all this a habit. This is done by ignoring the external world and removing the obstacles to peace of mind. (p. 20)”
― Ramana Maharshi, Talks with Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness

“However, for human beings, practice is much too tiresome. We want to show our appreciation like sightseers, without doing it ourselves. Like spectator sports, which are very popular, the Zen fad is really a spectator Zen or Zen sightseeing fad.

Roshi, Kosho Uchiyama. Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo (Kindle Locations 2165-2167). Wisdom Publications. Kindle Edition.”
― Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo

“Everything we say, do, and think, aligns us with darkness or light, love or grievance. Thus everything is a spiritual practice, whether we are aware of it or not. We are constantly, in every moment, aligning with one way of being or another. The choice is ours to make each moment of the day.”
― Ted Dekker, The Forgotten Way Meditations: The Path of Yeshua for Power and Peace in This Life

“The greatest spiritual challenge is an attachment to material things. Even the most dedicated spiritual practice is meaningless when we are controlled by what we own.”
― Anthon St. Maarten

“It is crucial to be mindful of death - to contemplate that you will not remain long in this life. If you are not aware of death, you will fail to take advantage of this special human life that you have already attained. It is meaningful since, based on it, important effects can be accomplished. Analysis of death is not for the sake of becoming fearful but to appreciate this precious lifetime during which you can perform many important practices. Rather than being frightened, you need to reflect that when death comes, you will lose this good opportunity for practice. In this way contemplation of death will bring more energy to your practice.”
― Dalai Lama XIV, Advice on Dying: And Living a Better Life

“Many people say to me, "Should I be a vegetarian or shouldn't I?" "Should I have sex or shouldn't I?" "Should I meditate forty minutes or shouldn't I?" People that meditate exactly the right number of minutes, eat exactly the right food, do all the things perfectly, can also be caught in the chain of gold, in the chain of righteousness and ritual. This is not liberation. But eventually one does perform the spiritual practices, not out of obligation, not out of guilt, but because we've got to do it. Because it's demanded of us by us. We end up going through hell in meditation to quiet our minds, not because someone says, "You ought to quiet your mind," but because our agitated minds are driving us up the wall, and it's keeping us from getting on with it. We'll learn how to pray, and read holy books, and practice devotional acts and chants, opening our hearts and asking Christ to fill us with love, not because we're good, but because with a closed heart we know we cannot come into the flow of the universe.”
― Ram Dass, Grist for the Mill: The Mellow Drama, Dying: An Opportunity for Awakening, Freeing the Mind, Karmuppance, God & Beyond

“Thus, to receive spiritual help in time of need requires, first of all, not to deny but to affirm the search. Painful questions must be raised, faced, and then lived. This means that we must constantly avoid the temptation of offering or accepting simple answers, to be easy defenders of God, the Church, the tradition, or whatever we feel called to defend. Experience suggests that such glib apologetics animate hostility and anger, and finally a growing alienation from whom or what we are trying to defend. Be careful when life’s questions swirl around you in times of pain. Beware of easy answers or guarantees. Seek the companionship of others who will befriend you and listen as you live the questions of your life.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith

“The mind divides the world into a million pieces. The heart makes it whole.”
― Stephen Levine, Embracing the Beloved: Relationship as a Path of Awakening

“When you reflect on the infinite number of happenstances that coalesced to produce you, then you understand how unique, how precious, how sacred you really are. Your task is to cultivate that precious, sacred nature and help it to flower.”
― Robert Aitken, Encouraging Words: Zen Buddhist Teachings for Western Students

“Make the practice pleasant, that is what I beg you to do.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Ultimate Dimension : An Advanced Dharma Retreat on the Avatamsaka and Lotus Sutras

“However, for human beings, practice is much too tiresome. We want to show our appreciation like sightseers, without doing it ourselves. Like spectator sports, which are very popular, the Zen fad is really a spectator Zen or Zen sightseeing fad.”
― Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo

“Awareness is more essential than a hundred skills. To be aware is to be open. And to be open is to know the path of every master who has roamed the earth.”
― Thomas Lloyd Qualls, Painted Oxen

“All mastery is about doing that which the senses tell us cannot be done.”
― Thomas Lloyd Qualls, Painted Oxen

“Aloneness seems to be the heart of discipline [...] You cannot develop yourself properly unless you give up your need for companionship. Once you give up your search for companionship, you can make friends with your loneliness. At that point, you become a genuine practitioner.”
― Chögyam Trungpa, The Path of Individual Liberation

“You may have collected many useful profound texts – philosophical scriptures,
Spoken advice, transcribed teachings,
Yet if you do not practice, at the time of death, books don’t help.
Observe your mind! This is my advice from the heart.”
― Longchen Rabjam, Longchenpa's Advice from the Heart

“You should understand the whole purpose of listening to teachings, taking teachings and studying them is to put them into practice. What you know should be put into practice immediately; you can thus derive the benefit of having some transformation within your mind. Even though it might be a very minor effort, a very small practice just leaving imprints within your mind, still you must think that it is worthwhile to do. Otherwise your knowledge of dharma will be quite fruitless.”
― Dalai Lama XIV, Path to Bliss: A Practical Guide to Stages of Meditation

“enemies are never people, but the demons of doubt, jealousy, hatred, self-loathing, greed, and blinding misperceptions and misunderstandings within our-selves and between ourselves and others”
― Rachel Wooten, Tara

“When you listen carefully to this and put it correctly into practice, you will certainly automatically receive the blessings! When you assimilate loving kindness in you heart, you will be loved by all beings. When you hold compassion in your heart, everyone will cherish you as their own child. When you keep impartiality in your heart, you will be free from enmity and prejudice. When you fill your heart with sympathetic joy, your actions will be in harmony with everyone. When you give up the thought of harming others, you will meet less hostility. When you tame your mind and are very generous, many followers will gather around you. (p. 107)”
― Padmasambhava, Advice from the Lotus-Born: A Collection of Padmasambhava's Advice to the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal and Other Close Disciples

“Your present life is just one life; future lives are innumerable. Do not sacrifice so many lives just to pursue the illusory well-being of this present one. If you neglect to practice Dharma day after day, you will regret it bitterly – but too late, at the moment of death. Can a dying person begin to practice? Right now is the time to devote yourself to spiritual practice. The experience that practice will bring you is the only thing that will help you at the hour of death. (The Hundred Verses of Advice – Collected Works Vol II p 424, Shambhala)”
― Dilgo Khyentse, The Hundred Verses of Advice: Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on What Matters Most

“Simply repeating "I don't understand anything I see" will open you up to creative vision. Initially, when you practice, you might feel a sense of uncomfortable bewilderment; however, if you stay with this practice, inspiration will peek through the ordinariness of what you normally see.”
― Shelley Klammer, A Course in Creating Confidence: 365 Self-Love Practices Inspired by A Course in Miracles

“It comes down to practice, and practice, after all, is conduct in keeping with Right Views. Of course, Right Views are not merely opinions, not even Skākyamuni’s opinions, but are views that accord with this realization: we are all in this together and we aren’t here very long. Let’s take care of one another while we can.”
― Robert Aitken, Encouraging Words: Zen Buddhist Teachings for Western Students

“Sitting [meditation] is an enjoyment, not hard labor for enlightenment.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Breathe! You Are Alive: Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing

“The world is here to surprise us. My most lasting insights have occurred off the [meditation] cushion, not on it.”
― Stephen Batchelor, The Art of Solitude

“To practice is not to practice for ourselves alone. We practice for everyone. We should be proud to say, Violence, it may come from somewhere else, but not from me. Hatred, discrimination, it may come from somewhere else, but not from me.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Ultimate Dimension : An Advanced Dharma Retreat on the Avatamsaka and Lotus Sutras

“True Witchcraft is more than just the practice of it. It is the result of the practice.”
― Storm Faerywolf, Betwixt & Between: Exploring the Faery Tradition of Witchcraft

“This is the attitude of bodhisattvas: to practice meditation not only for yourself, but for the world, to relieve the suffering. And, when others suffer less, you suffer less. When you suffer less, they suffer less. That is interbeing. There is no separation between yourself and others. You do not live just for yourself; you live for other people. Your peace, freedom, and joy also profit others; you are already helpful. And so, when you breathe mindfully or walk mindfully and create joy and peace, that is already a gift for the world.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet

“I once asked Master B.P. Chan if the ancient qigong and martial arts masters had superior abilities to those of the present. He said, "In general, yes. But only because they were more patient." ... Most students abandon the practice and look for a new form of "entertainment". But it is precisely at this stage that the most lasting benefits are cultivated.”
― Kenneth S. Cohen, The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing