Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath. —Charlotte Joko Beck More about this quote Tags: life joy illness fortune Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
You may have expected that enlightenment would come like zap! Instantaneous and permanent. This is unlikely. After the first "aha" experience, it can be thought of as the thinning of a layer of clouds. —Ram Dass More about this quote Tags: experience enlightenment Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Enter each day with the expectation that the happenings of the day may contain a clandestine message addressed to you personally. Expect omens, epiphanies, casual blessings, and teachers who unknowingly speak to your condition. —Sam Keen More about this quote Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Yes, I do have a personal practice. . . . Sometimes I forget my practice and start doing bizarre and strange things like meditating or following my breath. But the practice that I am really committed to is living ordinary human life. —Arjuna Nick Ardagh More about this quote Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
All that a guru can tell you is "My dear sir, you are quite mistaken about yourself. You are not the person you take yourself to be. —Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj More about this quote Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
The most common ego identifications have to do with possessions, the work you do, social status and recognition, knowledge and education, physical appearance, special abilities, relationships, personal and family history, belief systems, and often political, nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective identifications. None of these is you. —Eckhart Tolle More about this quote Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
The Buddha did not enter some new territory: he saw things the way they were. What was extinguished was only the false view of self. What had always been illusory was understood as such. Nothing was changed but the perspective of the observer. When asked, "What are you?" by an awestruck would-be follower, the Buddha responded only, "I am awake. —Mark Epstein More about this quote Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Imagine that you are experiencing an unpleasant night dream: You are in the ocean, swimming; you have gone out too far; you look back toward the shore and see that there is very little hope of rescue. Even though you shout your lungs out, no one can hear you. . . . You struggle and strive to reach the shore, and, of course, the harder you fight, the harder the ocean fights you. There is only one thing left for you to do — drown. Yes, drown — but wait! In your fight, you shouted and someone heard you, came over and shook you, woke you up, and behold the miracle! The drowning self disappeared; the ocean disappeared; the struggle disappeared. You awakened and found that you had never left your comfortable home. All that was necessary in order to be released from the struggle was to awaken! —Joel Goldsmith More about this quote Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Reality, no matter how widened and heightened our perceptions, never ceases to be anything but the effect on us of an infinite mystery. —Laurens Van der Post More about this quote Tags: reality perception mystery Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither. . . . Suddenly I awakened, and there I lay, myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming that I am a man. —Chuang Tzu More about this quote Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable. —Madeleine L'Engle More about this quote Tags: maturity Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Adulthood isn't an award they'll give you for being a good child. You can waste... years, trying to get someone to give that respect to you, as though it were a sort of promotion or raise in pay. If only you do enough, if only you are good enough. No. You have to just... take it. Give it to yourself, I suppose. Say, I'm sorry you feel like that and walk away. But that's hard. —Lois McMaster Bujold More about this quote Tags: maturity Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Age is no guarantee of maturity. —Lawana Blackwell More about this quote Tags: maturity Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
My Father taught me how to be a man — and not by instilling in me a sense of machismo or an agenda of dominance. He taught me that a real man doesn't take, he gives; he doesn't use force, he uses logic; doesn't play the role of trouble-maker, but rather, trouble-shooter; and most importantly, a real man is defined by what's in his heart, not his pants. —Kevin Smith More about this quote Tags: maturity Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Maturity is only a short break in adolescence. —Jules Feiffer More about this quote Tags: maturity Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email