Quotes to Inspire Your Silent Meditation Practice
Rumi (the Book of Love), on Opening Up
“What was said to the rose that made it open was said to me here in my chest.”
Swami Sarvapriyananda on Purpose and Dreams
“What is the purpose of life if “I am That”? There is no reasonable answer within the dream for a dream.”
Rupert Spira on Great Loss and Great Remembrance
“The grief that we feel at the loss of another is a reflection in our very human experience of the “great loss” of our self, the “great loss” of contact with our being. And every parting, whether it is just the parting of a friend leaving on a trip or a passing of a loved one…this little pang that rises in us or the tremendous grief we feel…all of these are echoes of the “great loss” shining in our personal experience. The resolution of every loss is the “great remembrance”, the remembrance of our true nature…the remembrance, the return to our being, the return from ourself to ourself through ourselves.”
Nick Keomahavong (Living in Alignment), On Being at Peace
“When what you say and what you think actually matches what you do, you will be so much more at peace.”
Rupert Spira on Feeling Infinite
“We forget that we are infinite. In other words, that our being is shared. And we believe that we are a separate self, a finite self, an isolated self. As a result, we feel that the self in me is completely distinct from the self in you…we feel this self is limited…a fragment. Because the self feels that it is a fragment it is always trying to complete itself or fulfill itself through the acquisition of objects, relationships and trying to defend its identity.”
Dogen Zenji on Being Unobstructed
“A deluded person and an enlightened person, both use the same boat…and neither of them is obstructed.”
Francis Lucille (The Perfume of Silence) on the Comfort of Silence
“To begin with, it seems like an effort to keep returning to the welcoming presence, but at some point it is so natural that it seems to require an effort to leave it. It feels like home. We no longer feel that we need to be entertained.”
Joan Halifax on Compassion and Resilience
“A person who is cultivating compassion, when they are in the presence of suffering, they feel that suffering a lot more than many other people do. However, they return to baseline a lot sooner. This is called resilience. Many of us think that compassion drains us, but…it is something that truly enlivens us.”
Sam Harris (Waking Up) on Finding the Present
“Every moment of the day—indeed, every moment throughout one’s life—offers an opportunity to be relaxed and responsive or to suffer unnecessarily…Each of us is looking for a path back to the present.”
Dr. Jane Goodall on Interconnectedness
“In the rainforest I learned about the interconnection of all species, each with a role to play. I felt a strong spiritual connection with the natural world…”
Ajahn Vijayasara on Readiness
“Looking after your body, looking after your mind and keeping yourself strong so that you’re ready for whatever might happen, a sense of readiness…if you have developed this ability to see things as changing, as fluid…both in the ways that are agreeable and in ways that are disagreeable, at any moment…then the impact of that kind of change is much less severe.”
Mooji on Looking Within
“Use this, the intensity of the sense of a crisis…to turn within. Life is not about just enjoying, enjoying superficially, because all these enjoyments are momentary and passing. Rather, use that which sometimes brings pain, to turn within, and to find your Source….the true Self is not at some distance away from you…it is right here, behind the facade of personhood, this changeful world…distanceless, uncreated, imperishable. Find it!”
Lekshe King Tamang on Joy and Suffering
“The next time you have a feeling that you would categorize as suffering, just stop, notice it in your body, notice it in your thought, notice the tendency to put a storyline behind it, and just rest in the actual feeling. If you are resting there, not grasping, not closing the heart to whatever is happening, there will be a sense of joy because that’s who we are and that’s what we are made of.”
John Butler on Purpose
“To begin with, our purpose is really “what I want”, it’s an individual thing. But later on in the process, the ego gets less. and you begin to think more universally. And even beyond that, there is a yet deeper urge: when it’s not really for any purpose at all.”
Eckhart Tolle on Life and Death
“When you go deep enough to the formless, the dreadful is no longer dreadful, it’s sacred. Then you will experience the two levels. When somebody dies who is close to you, yes it’s dreadful on the level of form. It’s sacred on the deeper level. Death can enable you to find that dimension in yourself. You’re helping countless other humans if you find that dimension in yourself – the sacred dimension of life – where life is indestructible.”
John Butler on The Language of Silence
“Silence is infinite inclusiveness.”
Sadhguru on Being Boundless
“If something has no boundaries and no parameters, you cannot talk about it. The whole work is about clearing the mess you have created, not about establishing Truth. There is no need to establish Truth. It is in the lap of Truth that all of us exist….Do not be concerned about your thoughts…do not try to stop them. Let them happen like the activity of your kidneys is happening. Not everything in your kidneys is clean. Not everything in your brain is clean either – what is your problem?”
Norman Fischer on Compassion
“When we let go into the life of another person, into the life of meeting in the moment…and really really care for them… just really care…then we really have our true life, and our life is bigger and happier and more joyful. That’s the paradox of compassion…We are conditioned to think we have to protect ourselves from suffering, we have to make it go away somehow, but when we let go of that smallness and allow ourselves to care, even in the case of the suffering of another, we have joy.”
Pema Chodron on the Uncomfortable
“To the degree that you can stay present with “uncomfortable”, and touch it with kindness, then you go through it into the openness and freshness and infinite quality of our minds and hearts.”
David Rynick on Basic Friendliness
“Play around with the idea of meeting your life with this ‘basic friendliness’. Maybe take ten minutes to sit still and just allow yourself to be as you are—being present to whatever thoughts, sensations and feelings are present—without having to evaluate or change anything. Let yourself be as you are. You don’t have to like what is arising or feel good about it—but you can just let it be.”
Br. Phap Huu, Disciple of Thich Nhat Hahn, on Stillness
“Whatever situation he is put in (my teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh), he’s able to fall back on that foundation and take refuge in that foundation of calmness and stillness: that “everything is going to be okay”…the outcome of panic is not the best offering …But if we can rely on the foundation of stillness and peace and calm, then the solution that we can arrive at can be much clearer.”
Ajahn Chah on the Trained Mind
“The untrained mind is stupid! Sense impressions come and trick it into happiness, suffering, gladness and sorrow, but the mind’s true nature is none of those things… really this mind of ours is already unmoving and peaceful…”
Jeff Foster on True Peace
“True peace is not the opposite of chaos, it’s not the opposite of noise, it’s that which embraces the chaos, it embraces the noise, like the sky embracing even the storm…that’s presence. Deep peace is already here. What you are is already at peace with what is happening, just like the ocean that does not need to get rid of its waves to be at peace. This is a peace and silence that is not opposed to anything for it embraces everything. It IS everything! Everything is an invitation to discover who you really are in THIS moment.”
