“The past has no power over the present moment.”
“Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.”
“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.”
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
“Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.”
“Give up defining yourself - to yourself or to others. You won't die. You will come to life. And don't be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it's their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don't be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.”
“To love is to recognize yourself in another.”
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.”
“Life isn't as serious as the mind makes it out to be.”
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”
“Life is the dancer and you are the dance.”
“You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.”
“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”
“Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.”
“Anything that you resent and strongly react to in another is also in you.”
“A genuine relationship is one that is not dominated by the ego with its image-making and self-seeking. In a genuine relationship, there is an outward flow of open, alert attention toward the other person in which there is no wanting whatsoever.”
“Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to "die before you die" --- and find that there is no death.”
“Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.”
“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but thought about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking. Separate them from the situation, which is always neutral. It is as it is.”
“Being spiritual has nothing to do with what you believe and everything to do with your state of consciousness.”
“Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose”
“Is there a difference between happiness and inner peace? Yes. Happiness depends on conditions being perceived as positive; inner peace does not.”
“This, too, will pass.”
“Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time—past and future—the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.”
“Accept - then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.”
“All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness.”
“Love is not selective, just as the light of the sun is not selective. It does not make one person special. It is not exclusive. Exclusivity is not the love of God but the "love" of
ego. However, the intensity with which true love is felt can vary. There may be one person who reflects your love back to you more clearly and more intensely than others, and if that person feels the same toward you, it can be said that you are in a love relationship with him or her. The bond that connects you with that person is the same bond that connects you with the person sitting next to you on a bus, or with a bird, a tree, a flower. Only the degree of intensity with which it is felt differs.”
“You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge. But it can only emerge if something fundamental changes in your state of consciousness.”
“Always say “yes” to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to what already is? what could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say “yes” to life — and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.”
“All the things that truly matter, beauty, love, creativity, joy and inner peace arise from beyond the mind.”
“Pleasure is always derived from something outside you, whereas joy arises from within.”
“Living up to an image that you have of yourself or that other people have of you is inauthentic living.”
“Being must be felt. It can't be thought.”
“To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them - while they last. All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease.”
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness.”
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you will ever have.”
“If not now, when?”
“Don't let a mad world tell you that success is anything other than a successful present moment.”
“Awareness is the greatest agent for change.”
“When you don't cover up the world with words and labels, a sense of the miraculous returns to your life that was lost a long time ago when humanity, instead of using thought, became possessed by thought.”
“What a liberation to realize that the “voice in my head” is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that.”
“Humanity is now faced with a stark choice: Evolve or die. … If the structures of the human mind remain unchanged, we will always end up re-creating the same world, the same evils, the same dysfunction.”
“Don't Seek Happiness. If you seek it, you won't find it, because seeking is the antithesis of happiness”
“If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place. Primary reality is within; secondary reality without.”
“Any action is often better than no action, especially if you have been stuck in an unhappy situation for a long time. If it is a mistake, at least you learn something, in which case it's no longer a mistake. If you remain stuck, you learn nothing.”
“What you react to in others, you strengthen in yourself.”
“Can you look without the voice in your head commenting, drawing conclusions, comparing, or trying to figure something out?”
“...the past gives you an identity and the future holds the promise of salvation, of fulfillment in whaterver form. Both are illusions.”
“All problems are illusions of the mind.”
“The greater part of human pain is unnecessary. It is self-created as long as the unobserved mind runs your life.”
“As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to flow with joy and ease. When you act out the present-moment awareness, whatever you do becomes imbued with a sense of quality, care, and love - even the most simple action.”
“The moment you become aware of the ego in you, it is strictly speaking no longer the ego, but just an old, conditioned mind-pattern. Ego implies unawareness. Awareness and ego cannot coexist.”
“Knowing yourself is to be rooted in Being, instead of lost in your mind.”
“This is my secret," he said. "I don't mind what happens.”
“The significance is hiding in the insignificant. Appreciate everything.”
“The moment that judgement stops through acceptance of what it is, you are free of the mind. You have made room for love, for joy, for peace.”
“Whenever you become anxious or stressed, outer purpose has taken over, and you lost sight
of your inner purpose. You have forgotten that your state of consciousness is
primary, all else secondary.”
“Become conscious of being conscious.”
“In today's rush we all think too much, seek too much, want too much and forget about the joy of just Being.”
“Love is a state of Being. Your love is not outside; it is deep within you. You can never lose it, and it cannot leave you.”
“It is when we are trapped in incessant streams of compulsive thinking that the universe really disintegrates for us, and we lose the ability to sense the interconnectedness of all that exists.”
thing ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being present now, and if the past cant prevent you from being present now, what power does it have?”
“Only the truth of who you are, if realized, will set you free.”
“...whenever there is inspiration...and enthusiasm...there is a creative empowerment that goes far beyond what a mere person is capable of.”
“When another recognizes you, that recognition draws the dimension of Being more fully into this world through both of you. That is the love that redeems the world.”
“Defining yourself through thought is limiting yourself.”
“Awareness is the power that is concealed within the present moment. … The ultimate purpose of human existence, which is to say, your purpose, is to bring that power into this world.”
“Words reduce reality to something the human mind can grasp, which isn’t very much.”
“You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge.”
“You have so much to learn from your enemies.”
“every complaint is a little story the mind makes up that you completely believe in.”
“The ego wants to want more than it wants to have.”
“It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living.”
“Doing is never enough if you neglect Being.”
“Authentic human interactions become impossible when you lose yourself in a role.”
“The human condition: lost in thought.”
“Nonresistance is the key to the greatest power in the universe.”
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life”
“What will be left of all the fearing and wanting associated with your problematic life situation that every day takes up most of your attention? A dash, one or two inches long, between the date of birth and date of death on your gravestone.”
“The greatest achievement of humanity is not its works of art, science, or technology, but the recognition of its own dysfunction.”
“Through the present moment, you have access to the power of life itself, that which has traditionally been called "God." As soon as you turn away from it, God ceases to be a reality in your life, and all you are left with is the mental concept of God, which some people believe in and others deny. Even belief in God is only a poor substitute for the living reality of God manifesting every moment of your life.”
“You become most powerful in whatever you do if the action is performed for its own sake rather than as a means to protect, enhance, or conform to your role identity.”
“The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not “the thinker.” The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter – beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace – arise from beyond the mind. You begin to awaken.”
“One thing we do know: Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.”
“Power over others is weakness disguised as strength.”
“In the eyes of the ego, self-esteem and humility are contradictory. In truth, they are one and the same.”
“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, person and family history, belief systems, and often nationalistic, racial, religious, and other collective identifications. None of these is you.”
“With stillness comes the benediction of Peace.”
“Life isn't as serious as my mind makes it out to be.”
“Once you have had a glimpse of awareness or Presence, you know it firsthand. It is no longer just a concept in your mind.”
“On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a joyous energy behind what you do.”
“If you identify with a mental position, then if you are wrong, your mind-based sense of self is seriously threatened with annihilation. So you as the ego cannot afford to be wrong. To be wrong is to die. Wars have been fought over this, and countless relationships have broken down.”
“the primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but you thoughts about it”
“Even a stone, and more easily a flower or a bird, could show you the way back to God, to the Source, to yourself. When you look at it or hold it & let it be without imposing a word of mental label on it, a sense of awe, of wonder, arises within you. Its essence silently communicates itself to you and reflects your own essence back to you.”
“You are here to enable the divine purpose of the Universe to unfold. That is how important you are!”
“Words reduce reality to something the human mind can grasp, which isn’t very much. Language consists of five basic sounds produced by the vocal cords. They are the vowels a, e, i, o, u. The other sounds are consonants produced by air pressure: s, f, g, and so forth. Do you believe some combination of such basic sounds could ever explain who you are, or the ultimate purpose of the universe, or even what a tree or stone is in its depth?”
“The brain does not create consciousness, but conciousness created the brain, the most complex physical form on earth, for its expression.”
“Those who have not found their true wealth, which is the radiant joy of Being and the deep, unshakable peace that comes with it, are beggars, even if they have great material wealth.”
“That in you which recognizes madness as madness (even if it is your own) is sanity, is the arising awareness, is the end of insanity.”
“The foundation of greatness is honoring the small things of the present moment, instead of pursuing the idea of greatness.”
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more accurately, it is not so much that you use your mind wrongly—you usually don't use it at all. It uses you. All the things that truly matter — beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace — arise from beyond the mind...”
“Prejudice of any kind implies that you are identified with the thinking mind. It means you don’t see the other human being anymore, but only your own concept of that human being.
To reduce the aliveness of another human being to a concept is already a form of violence.”
“Your outer journey may contain a million steps; your inner journey only has one: the step you are taking right now.”
“The past has no power to stop you from being present now. Only your grievance about the past can do that.”
“Practice presence -- embrace the place where life happens.”
“Each person's life – each life form, in fact – represents a world, a unique way in which the universe experiences itself.”
“To recognize one's own insanity is, of course, the arising of sanity, the beginning of healing and transcendence.”
“Man Made 'God' in his own image. The eternal, the infinite, the unnameable was reduced to a mental idol that you had to believe in and worship as 'my god' or 'our god'.”
“All you really need to do is accept this moment fully. You are then at ease in the here and now and at ease with yourself.”
“If her past were your past, her pain your pain, her level of consciousness your level of consciousness, you would think and act exactly as she does. With this realization comes forgiveness, compassion and peace.”
“The quicker you are in attaching verbal or mental labels to things, people, or situations, the more shallow and lifeless your reality becomes, and the more deadened you become to reality”
“The story of the Zen Master whose only response was always "Is that so?" shows the good that comes through inner nonresistance to events, that is to say, being at one with what happens. The story of the man whose comment was invariably a laconic "Maybe" illustrates the wisdom of non-judgment, and the story of the ring points to the fact of impermanence which, when recognized, leads to non-attachment. Nonresistance, non-judgement, and non-attachment are the three aspects of true freedom and enlightened living.”
“True Power is within, and it is available now.”
“Not to be able to stop thinking is a dreadful affliction, but we don't realize this because almost everyone is suffering from it, so it is considered normal. This incessant mental noise prevents you from finding that realm of inner stillness that is inseparable from Being.”
“And then there is the universal role of adult. When you play that role, you take yourself and life very seriously. Spontaneity, lightheartedness, and joy are not part of that role.”
“If small things have the power to disturb you, then who you think you are is exactly that: small.”
“When this delusion of utter separateness underlies and governs whatever I think, say, and do, what kind of world do I create?”
“Reading is my passion and my escape since I was 5 years old. Overall, children don't realize the magic that can live inside their own heads. Better even then any movie.”
“Love, joy, and peace cannot flourish until you have freed yourself from mind dominance.”
“Nothing has happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.”
“It is precisely through the onset of old age, through loss or personal tragedy, that the spiritual dimension would traditionally come into people's lives. This is to say, their inner purpose would emerge only as their outer purpose collapsed and the shell of the ego would begin to crack open. The emphasis shifts from doing to Being, and our civilization, which is lost in doing, knows nothing of Being. It asks: being? What do you do with it?”
“If increased meta-knowledge is not counter-balanced by a corresponding growth in consciousness then the likelihood of psycho-spiritual dysfunction is great.”
“If you are in a state of intense presence you are free of thought, yet highly alert. If your conscious attention sinks below a certain level, thought rushes in, the mental noise returns, stillness is lost, you're back in time.”
“Inner resistance to whatever arises in the present moment pulls you back into unconsciousness. Inner resistance is some form of negativity, complaining, fear, aggression, or anger. This is important because whenever you complain about what somebody else does you're already beginning to fall into that trap of unconsciousness.”
“You may remember the paradox of time we mentioned earlier: Whatever you do takes time, and yet it is always now. So while your inner purpose is to negate time, your outer purpose necessarily involves future and so could not exist without time. But it is always secondary. Whenever you become anxious or stressed, outer purpose has taken over, and you lost sight of your inner purpose. You have forgotten that your state of consciousness is primary, all else secondary.”
“You are not IN the universe, you ARE the universe, an intrinsic part of it. Ultimately you are not a person, but a focal point where the universe is becoming conscious of itself. What an amazing miracle.”
“When faced with a radical crisis, when the old way of being in the world, of interacting with each other and with the realm of nature doesn't work anymore, when survival is threatened by seemingly insurmountable problems, an individual life-form -- or a species -- will either die or become extinct or rise above the limitations of its condition through an evolutionary leap.”
“Deny thy self!”
“If your mind carries a heavy burden of past, you will experience more of the same. The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence. The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future.”
“The key is to be in a state of permanent connectedness with your inner body - to feel it at all times. This will rapidly deepen and transform your life. The more consciousness you direct into the inner body, the higher its vibrational frequency becomes.”
“Negativity is totally unnatural. It is a psychic pollutant, and there is a deep link between the poisoning and destruction of nature and the vast negativity that has accumulated in the collective human psyche. No other life-form on the planet knows negativity, only humans, just as no other life-form violates and poisons the Earth that sustains it. Have you ever seen an unhappy flower or a stressed oak tree? Have you some across a depressed dolphin, a frog that has a problem with self-esteem, a cat that cannot relax, or a bird that carries hatred and resentment? The only animals that may occasionally experience something akin to negativity or show signs of neurotic behavior are those that live in close contact with humans and so link into the humans mind and its insanity.”
“So love is the recognition of oneness in a world of duality. This is the birth of God into the world of form. Love makes the world less worldly, less dense, more transparent to the divine dimension, the light of consciousness itself.”
“Acceptance of the unacceptable is the greatest source of grace in this world.”
“The present moment is all you will ever have.”
“I don't want it to end, and so, as every therapist knows, the ego does not want an end to its “problems” because they are part of its identity. If no one will listen to my sad story, I can tell it to myself in my head, over and over, and feel sorry for myself, and so have an identity as someone who is being treated unfairly by life or other people, fate or God. It gives definition to my self-image, makes me into someone, and that is all that matters to the ego.”
“When you let go of the belief that you should or need to know who you are, what happens to confusion? Suddenly it is gone. When you fully accept that you don't know, you actually enter a state of peace and clarity that is closer to who you truly are than thought could ever be. Defining yourself through thought is limiting yourself.”
“Fulfill me, make me happy, make me feel safe, tell me who I am. The world cannot give you those things, and when you no longer have such expectations, all self created suffering comes to an end.”
“To love is to recognize yourself in another..”
“If there isn't an emanation of love and joy, complete presence and openness toward all beings, then it is not enlightenment.”
“A powerful spiritual practice is consciously to allow the diminishment of ego when it happens without attempting to restore it. I recommend that you experiment with this from time to time. For example, when someone criticizes you, blames you, or calls you names, instead of immediately retaliating or defending yourself – do nothing. Allow the self-image to remain diminished and become alert to what that feels like deep inside you. For a few seconds, it may feel uncomfortable, as if you had shrunk in size. Then you may sense an inner speciousness that feels intensely alive. You haven't been diminished at all. In fact, you have expanded. You may then come to an amazing realization: When you are seemingly diminished in some way and remain in absolute non-reaction, not just externally but also internally, you realize that nothing real has been diminished, that through becoming “less,” you become more. When you no longer defend or attempt to strengthen the form of yourself, you step out of identification with form, with mental self-image. Through becoming less (in the ego’s perception), you in fact undergo an expansion and make room for Being to come forward. True power, who you are beyond form, can then shine through the apparently weakened form. This is what Jesus means when he says, “Deny yourself” or “Turn the other cheek.”
