The River of Wisdom Quotes

“The miracle of yoga is not that we get to reshape the external world—to bend the laws of time and space. The miracle of yoga is that we get to reshape our perception of the external world. Where we once only perceived injuries, illness, and pain, we now see an opportunity for growth. Where we once perceived acrimony and discord in relationships, we are now able to experience deep empathy. Where we once perceived darkness, evil, injustice, and vexing social issues, we now perceive the opportunity to serve. Yoga is like a purifying fire that burns away false perceptions of the world and of ourselves to enable us to see clearly.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Fundamentalism wears many masks, but always claims a monopoly on the Truth. Many people buy into fundamentalism in much the same way people buy cola to quench their thirst. There are elements of truth in fundamentalist thinking, just as water is an ingredient in cola. But just as the water loses much of its value when artificial flavors and colors are added, Truth loses its
value when guilt, shame, and rigid dogma are present. Fundamentalism is to the soul what artificial sweetener is to the body.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“The ego mind is like a plant growing in a very small pot. While the pot may be
attractive and ornate, its size doesn’t allow the plant to express its full potential.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Procrastination is the enemy of accomplishment—not simply because the
task you are avoiding fails to get done, but because all of your other goals and objectives get mired in the same sandpit as well.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“A bird doesn’t attempt to swim, and a cat doesn’t attempt to fly. Yet both are
completely content. Their dharma is anchored in instinct. Humans are continually trying to live out of accord with their dharma and so contentment remains elusive.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Like the tightly closed eyelids of a child trying to escape the reprimand of a parent, there is a part of the mind that needs to shut down in the face of an internal dialogue that is steeped in guilt, shame, and self-loathing.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Typically, awareness is only directed to the pronounced sensations of the body—the pleasurable and the painful. In yoga, over and over again, we witness the sensations of the body—the pleasant and unpleasant; the subtle and the overwhelming—neither seeking nor avoiding, and regarding all equally and without prejudice. It is through this nonjudgmental observation of sensation that the wisdom of the body is received, true healing is achieved, and the door to the unconscious mind is cast open.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“It is easy to make the mistake of thinking yoga is about touching your toes when in fact yoga is about learning to touch others. Likewise, many people think the purpose of meditation is a perfectly still mind, when in fact, it is a more compassionate heart. Spiritual practice is measured by one’s ability to ease the suffering of the world one breath at a time.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Non-attachment doesn’t mean you forgo possessions, pleasure, or comfort. It simply means you are at peace when those things fail to show up in your life. It means that while you can enjoy moments of ease, you are equally at peace when pain, hardship, and struggle define a given moment.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Gratitude is both a vaccine and an antidote for grief. Grief may be an inevitable fact of life, but gratitude has the power to transform the experience of grief from agonizing suffering to profound joy.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Relationship with another is like gazing into a still pond. You will either see your own face reflected or the depth of the water, but never both at the same time.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“A gardener cannot make a seed grow. She can simply create the conditions for growth to occur and then patiently wait.

A physician cannot heal the body. She can simply create the conditions for
healing to occur and then patiently wait.

A spiritual seeker cannot enlighten the mind or fill the heart with compassion.
She can simply create the conditions for grace to pour in and then patiently wait.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“If you live well, you will be shocked and surprised to see how, at the end of your life, it all turns out. But like any great novel, the clues have always been there and the plot twists and turns were hidden in plain sight.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Contrary to popular belief, the translation of vinyasa is not “sweaty practice.” Vinyasa is connecting breath and movement—a practice that has nothing to do with moving fast, accelerating the heart rate, or manifesting a pool of sweat. It does, however, have everything to do with mindful movement.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Most yoga practice starts with the goal of doing the extraordinary and supernatural— to place the feet behind the head, balance on one hand, or cheat the aging process. But the true practice of yoga aims at doing the natural and the ordinary—to stand on your feet, to find joy in filling the lungs,
and to release with each exhalation.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Injuries happen on the yoga mat all the time, but they never happen when we are truly practicing yoga. For instance, most yoga-related neck injuries happen when you strain yourself trying to see what is happening on the yoga mat next to yours.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“An advanced yoga practice has less to do with what happens when you roll out your mat and move through your practice and more to do with what happens when you roll up your mat and move through life.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“The good news is that attachment is not an industrial strength glue that binds the mind to condition-based happiness. You can free your mind at any moment by simply letting go—simply relax the mind the way you would unclench your fist.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Pain is powerful medicine. While it may be unpleasant to take this medicine, it is what shapes and inspires us. As you review the story of your life, you will find that growth was almost always preceded by hardship—the loss of a job, the passing of a loved one, challenges with health, the end of a relationship. Rather than avoiding pain, yoga asks us to surrender to it, to look deep into it, and to be healed by it.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“What defines you? Is it those hazy memories of yesterday, or last year, or childhood? Is it the emotions and thoughts that are passing through you in this very moment? Is it the future where you achieve or even fail to achieve the goals you set? Or are you defined by something bigger than all that? Something that is beyond the change, beyond the fluctuations of your life? To practice mindfulness is to see that it is your changeless nature that truly defines you, rather than the ebb and flow of your emotional tides or the shifting directions of your thought streams.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“You may think you see the world clearly—that the people in your life and even those you have never met are easily understood—that the things that fill your home, your community, and the world are benign and neutral. But every thing your eyes rest upon, every sound your ears hear, every thought and memory that passes through your awareness is filtered through the distorted lens of your perception. In reality, the people and things that fill your life have only the meaning that you have projected onto them. When we meditate, we pause the perception projector- -however briefly—and we see the world a bit more clearly. It is in this clarity that we find wisdom, compassion, and true healing.”
― Darren Main , The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“The mantra of the victim is, “If not for the events and circumstances of the world, I would be happy.” The world is often unfair and unjust, but that alone is not enough to create a victim. Victims believe they lack the power to choose. While you may not always be able to choose the circumstances of your life, you can choose how you respond. Through spiritual practice, we can choose inner harmony even when the world around us is filled with pain, suffering, and chaos.”
― Darren Main , The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Yoga and meditation not only give us the ability to enjoy the beautiful moments in life, but also the ability to fully embrace the difficult and ugly moments. So often we define success in our practice by the way we feel in a given moment, but practice is never about select peak moments. Practice is about celebrating the fullness of life—the difficult and the easy, the beautiful
and the ugly, the savory and the sweet”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Given the choice, most children would have ice cream for dinner. Similarly, yogis prefer the highs of yoga, the so-called “good practice.” But just as healthy children require vegetables and whole grains, advanced yogis need to be challenged during practice. The peak experiences we have during practice may keep us coming back to the mat, but it is the difficult and unpleasant aspects of practice that make us strong and prepare us for the challenges of life.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“The only place healing can occur, wisdom can be realized, compassion can be extended, and peace can be experienced, is the present moment.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Yoga can give you greater health and longevity, but these benefits can also become distractions from the greater truth that yoga seeks to reveal. Even the most disciplined yogis will sometimes fall ill, and longevity is never eternal. Yoga’s true gift is the recognition that while health and longevity may be nice,
peace and joy are not dependent on these temporary conditions. Once a yogi recognizes this, the true journey begins. Living to avoid pain, sickness, and death is not living at all. It is like removing a bandage one hair at a time.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Yoga gives you the freedom to choose, but it does not guarantee you will choose freedom.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“My mind has evolved from that of a child to that of an adult and passed through countless changes along the way. My heart has known great love, heartache, joy, and anger—it has shifted directions more often than the wind. My body began as two cells, has grown, aged, and passed through sickness and health. Even the face in my mirror is far different than the one that once stared back at me just a few months ago. But through this state of flux that has defined my life, there is a part of me that has been entirely the same throughout. This changeless part of me has sat quietly witnessing, at peace and smiling softly.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“This life is a dream—sometimes a dream of beauty— sometimes a terrifying nightmare. We will all wake from this dream eventually. Spiritual practice allows us first to transform the dream from one of terror to one of joy, and then from a dream of joy, to awakening to our true nature as Atman.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living

“Spiritual practice lives at the corner of self-respect and self-discipline.”
― Darren Main, The River of Wisdom: Reflections on Yoga, Meditation, and Mindful Living