Beyond the Breath Quotes

“We’re accompanied by an internal play-by-play announcer who is forever proclaiming the way things supposedly are and should be in our game of life. This announcer believes it’s being helpful, but it doesn’t realize the commentaries are ruining the game. Not only is it covering over the real action, but it’s setting us up for disappointment, since the game itself rarely matches what’s supposed to be happening.”
― Marshall Glickman, Beyond the Breath: Extraordinary Mindfulness Through Whole-Body Vipassana Meditation

“you may have noticed a couple of unnerving things about the relationship between your thoughts and the truth: first, you can’t always believe what comes out of your own mouth, and second you can’t even always trust what you think. Our capacity and creativity for psychological avoidance, rationalization, and self-deception is awesome. Even the sharpest intellects are often way off when it comes to insight into their own psyche and motivations. In fact, sometimes the more clever you are, the more ingenious your rationalizations are.”
― Marshall Glickman, Beyond the Breath: Extraordinary Mindfulness Through Whole-Body Vipassana Meditation

“Though not often discussed, there is a split of sorts in the meditating world—namely, between concentration and mindfulness techniques.”
― Marshall Glickman, Beyond the Breath: Extraordinary Mindfulness Through Whole-Body Vipassana Meditation

“Try to meditate as you would engage in a good conversation: maintain a sense of openness, without judgment or anticipating what is going to be said next. As I already noted (but almost can’t emphasize too much), having an agenda prevents you from observing objectively and accepting things as they are. When you first sit down to meditate, briefly check in with yourself. Don’t engage in a long monologue about your state of mind; just see how you feel, literally. There’s a good chance, especially if you’re new to this, you’ll find an uneasiness that comes from wanting to do something else or from hoping you’ll get some kind of payoff from meditating. Observe what that wanting feels like without trying to change it. Just accept that this feeling or feelings is reality for you at this moment, and that’s okay—this too will pass. If you’re finding you’re having a lot of difficulty concentrating, it can be helpful to check in this way again.”
― Marshall Glickman, Beyond the Breath: Extraordinary Mindfulness Through Whole-Body Vipassana Meditation