A Heart of Stillness Quotes

“A man will renounce any pleasures you like but he will not give up his suffering. Man is made in such a way that he is never so much attached to anything as he is to his suffering. And it is necessary to be free from suffering. No one who is not free from suffering, who has not sacrificed his suffering, can work [on himself]…. Nothing can be attained without suffering but at the same time one must begin by sacrificing suffering.10”
― Rabbi David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“He who believes that he can reach God by his exertions hurls himself into an endless torment; and he who believes that he can reach Him without exertions, hurls himself into an endless wishful dream.17”
― Rabbi David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“When the reins of concentration are loose, we flail in all directions and bring great suffering to ourselves.”
― Rabbi David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“we are gripped with obsessions and are oblivious to everything going on around us as thoughts continually repeat themselves.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“the expectation of receiving a reward will transform the nature of the sacrifice.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“Every meditator carries an enormous amount of baggage in the form of mental static. This provides fuel for noisy thought-engines that seem to be constantly running.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“The process of purification is based on the idea that our essential nature is already pure, and enlightenment is the inborn condition of life.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“There are at least four essential elements composing the foundation of the enlightenment process: purification, concentration, effort, and mastery.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“When we find a way to quiet the mind, then awareness immediately expands and fills the vacuum.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“Enlightenment does not end with an attainment; it is a continuous unfolding.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“One day the Buddha came across an ascetic who sat by the bank of a river, and who had practiced austerities for twenty-five years. The Buddha asked him what he had got out of all his labor. The ascetic proudly replied that now at last he could cross the river by walking on the water. The Buddha tried to point out that this was little gain for so much labor, since for one penny the ferry would take him across.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“We do indeed encounter new parts of ourselves by stripping away the veils of our slumber; we become aware of our essential character and are opened to capabilities beyond limits self-imposed through ignorance,”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“Understanding arises out of silence rather than words.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“Samādhi is the state of concentrated calm resulting from meditation practice.”8 In another, we find “It implies not merely equilibrium, tranquillity, and one-pointedness, but a state of intense yet effortless concentration, of complete absorption of the mind itself, of heightened and expanded awareness.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“The secret is this: monkey mind feeds in darkness, it shrinks under the light of observation.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“peace of mind is our natural heritage and that we can awaken this potential within us at any time.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“Free-flowing thoughts can be our greatest asset when we are in a creative mode, but when an unruly mental process limits our awareness, the mind becomes an oppressor.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“Mental violence, whether acted out or not, still releases bile and other gastric juices, and extra adrenaline pumps through the body. The effect of our thoughts on our health remains a major unexplored territory in medicine.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation

“Admission to the school of self-inquiry is dependent rather on our motivation, willingness, and effort to explore the inner dimensions of our being.”
― David A. Cooper, A Heart of Stillness: A Complete Guide to Learning the Art of Meditation