On Breathing, Living, and Awakening
I am frequently asked for quotations on various aspects of my work. I am including Sayings from Emptiness, some of which first appeared on Twitter and Facebook. Also included are passages from The Tao of Natural Breathing, Free Your Breath, Free Your Life, and some articles and essays I have written. Just page down or click any of these links to read the quotations.
You may use these quotations in reviews or articles with proper attribution, which must include my name and a link to this website. Please be sure to send me a copy of or link to your review or article. Thank you.
Sayings from Emptiness
“Imitation may be useful for certain kinds of knowing, but when it comes to discovering and being what or who you really are, imitation is not only useless but will also take you in a totally wrong direction. Don’t imitate! Let the unknown be your inspiration.”
“Do you live in the real world, a world brimming over with the mystery and miracle of the unknown, or do you live in your own little more-or-less secure subjective world, brimming over with stories, judgments, and expectations that cut you off from directly sensing and feeling what is in you and around you?”
“Big mind and big heart always here, waiting and welcoming! Am I open?”
“Perhaps the hidden cause of much of our anxiety and suffering is the deep but often misunderstood and obstructed desire for self-transformation and self-realization that are our birthright. Those who would promise instant peace and happiness through sweet, philosophical words regarding the love and non-duality of the world only betray us. Work is needed, inner work–the struggle to open to truth at whatever cost.”
“The effort to listen in two directions at once, inwardly and outwardly, and realizing after oh-so-many years that there is no inward and outward; there is only the vast, silent spaciousness of Presence that welcomes everything into its miraculous embrace.”
“There are no shortcuts to anywhere or anything. There is only the shortest path from wherever you are in the circumstances you find yourself. Sometimes, however, the shortest path isn’t the best one to take. Sometimes, it’s the experiences you have and the people you meet on the longer, more circuitous path that help reveal your true destination.”
“The reason we cannot describe consciousness is because consciousness is what we are. Consciousness does not have a specific face—the face of Buddha or Christ or Quan Yin or your favorite teacher or you or me; consciousness is what enables us to perceive faces, whether they are smiling or sad. What lies behind your face?”
“Writing for me is analogous to serving tea in a Japanese tea ceremony. It is a form of meditation, of self-inquiry, of both seeing who I am not and being who I am. I write to ‘re-collect’ myself, to ‘re-member’ myself, which means, at a deeper level, to embrace myself as both silence and sound, emptiness and manifestation. When you actually taste and enjoy my special tea I am glad.”
“I am attempting to live in such a way as to do my part. Often it is very difficult to measure up to what I know deep down is right. The disparity can be painful; it can bring genuine suffering. And yet, such freedom, the freedom to to see, accept, and welcome the truth!”
“The most beautiful smile comes from your heart and helps open the hearts of others.”
“I used to believe that real life was hidden and that the way to it involved secrets. Now, open to openness, I realize that this notion represented my own resistance to seeing myself as I am, warts and all. And, perhaps paradoxically, the warts just don’t matter any more. In fact, they are poignant reminders of the precious gift I have been given–the gift of being, of openness to truth.”
“Do you suppose the sun is influenced by that upon which it shines its light and gives its warmth? Real presence, loving consciousness, does not arise only when the mind is peaceful and content. What good would that be? No, it offers its light and warmth right in the midst of chaos and turmoil and agitation and what we call our troubles. But I need to welcome it. I need to pay attention.”
“Who are you experientially? I am not asking here about your philosophical, or scientific, or spiritual definitions or concepts of yourself, but rather about what you actually experience when you are zero distance from yourself with full awareness.”
“You usually know what you’re looking at, but do you know what you’re looking out of? Who is looking and from where?”
“Are you who you think you are, who you feel you are, or who you sense you are? Can you think, feel, and sense yourself all at the same time? There is no right or wrong answer to this question–only the living truth of your own experience of yourself.”
“I feel most at home with those words that arise from silence and return there when they have finished their work.”
“A doorway into being: residing in the stillness at the end of the out-breath as the in-breath arises on its own.”
“How are you breathing right now? Just notice without trying to change anything. It is awareness that can transform you.”
“Remember that your breath comes from the unknown. Let it fill you with a sense of the mystery of life.”
“Breathe out your habitual sense of self. Breathe in the miracle and mystery of who you really are.”
“Self-improvement makes no sense! What needs improvement is not the “Self,” but rather our ability to experience it.”
“Remember yourself always & everywhere. But what, really, is your “Self”? A question worth pondering.”
“Do you really need to ruin everyone’s day by expressing your negativity? Do you see how it spreads like a wildfire?”
“Do you really need to be seduced by every thought that arises in your mind?”
“You call yourself human yet often act inhumanely toward those who don’t have the same beliefs & values as yours. Wake up!”
“Forget about deep breathing! Experience life deeply and let yourself be breathed.”
“Answers are meaningless without a real question.”
“Saying ‘no’ to negativity will not diminish negativity. Only saying ‘yes’ to what is can transform its causes.”
“The present moment, now, is more spacious than we imagine. It is not bounded by past and future. It simply is.”
“Trouble sleeping at night? Put your hands below your navel, sense their warmth & enjoy the opening & closing of your breath.”
“Being conscious of the yin & yang movements of ‘natural breathing’ can help open us to the alchemy of healing & wholeness.”
“Breathing awareness can help regulate our energetic pathways & bring our body, mind & emotions into harmonious balance.”
“The breath of life is shared by us all. Can you feel your connection with others as you exhale and inhale?”
“People & countries reveal their underlying values in their attitudes toward the poor and infirm.”
“Practice: As you sit down & get up today, use these movements as a reminder to sense your breathing & not hold your breath.”
“Are you open to openness? Or are you only open to impressions that support your expectations & preconceived notions?”
“Presence isn’t the result of thoughts, feelings or sensations; it’s the light that allows us to see these functions at work.”
“True inspiration comes not from remembering the insights of others but from not forgetting the mystery of yourself.”
“Can you sense the outer & inner movements of your breathing? Let every cell of your body be enlivened by breath!”
“So much talk about love. Real love is unconditional. Can you love those people and aspects of yourself that you now hate?”
“Practice: For five minutes, sense the movements of your breathing without judgment. Notice how still you become inside.”
“When you can love everything and everyone you now hate, then you can tell me how loving you are.”
“People mostly see & sense what you’re like, so you might as well save your energy and stop hiding from them andyourself.”
“Mindfulness Practice: Observe any breath holding during your day; include related thoughts, emotions, tensions, and postures.”
“Practice: Observe your breathing as you shift from one activity to another in your daily life.”
“To open constricted breathing, get close to your whole body; sense it intimately and lovingly.”
“Many negative emotions result from our narrow attitudes. Some signal the need for real change in our lives. Can you be honest?”
“Out-breath: Can you sense the release of tension as stale air flows from your lungs all the way out through your nose?”
“In-breath: Can you sense the electric charge as fresh air flows from the tip of your nose all the way into your lungs?”
“A mystery & miracle: Smile and realize that you are a spacious being alive and breathing now!”
“You cannot fill what is already full. Exhale! Let go! Create space for the breath of life to enter and quicken your being.”
“Are you willing and able to see and welcome the multi-dimensional truth of yourself as you are right now?”
“Don’t ‘take a breath.’ That’s simply the ego grasping. Let the in-breath arise on its own after a long, full exhalation.”
“Opening fully to the breath of life depends not on altering your breathing but on experiencing the mystery of your being.”
“The problem isn’t stress; it’s the unconscious way we react to it. What’s needed is more awareness, not a better way to cope.”
“Sense how your breathing opens when you stretch comfortably. Once you feel the difference you will want to stretch often.”
“Our unconscious attitudes toward ourselves and others create much of the stress and tension in our lives.”
“In the quest for perfection, what we believe we lack often blinds us to the miracle of what we have.”
“An opportunity to understand the hypnotic power of your thoughts: Sense your breathing as you rush to arrive someplace else.”
“Have you smiled to yourself yet today? Try it! Breathe through your smile. Feel the miracle of life.”
“Giving and receiving: Can you sense right now the deeper meaning of your out-breaths and in-breaths?”
“As long as we don’t take them as “I”, bigger thoughts create space for the miracle of being and presence to appear.”
“Try something new today: e.g., smile as you hug yourself firmly. Notice how these actions affect you and your breathing.”
“Is today truly a new day, or are you approaching it with the same attitudes and self-image you had yesterday?”
“What do you take to be yourself? Lao Tzu suggests we ‘forsake our narrow sense of self and live wholly.’ Can you try it now?”
“Is your breath only ‘personal,’ or does it arise from something or somewhere greater than yourself? Sense, feel and observe!”
“Your breathing can calm and gladden your mind. Just let yourself be breathed now, touched deeply by the life-force.”
“Breathing is not doing. It shouldn’t be forced by the manipulative mind. Can you become quiet inside and sense its origins?”
“Appreciation is a profound act. It depends on exhaling, letting go of, your expectations and being fully with ‘what is.’”
“Dynamic relaxation and good breathing arise most readily when you fully appreciate the miracle of being.”
“As you become aware of your first breaths of the day, can you let go as you exhale of expectations of how things ‘should be’?”
“What creates tension and stress for many of us is our rush into the future. We forget that the future always arrives now.”
“Without mindfulness, without consciousness, we are simply organic machines set in motion by our likes and dislikes.”
“Mindfulness: This breath, thought, sensation and feeling may be your last. If you don’t pay attention now, when will you?”
“Greet the new day with several long quiet exhalations, releasing all tensions and expectations. Let yourself be breathed!”
“When you let go of what is unnecessary, your breath will flourish and the life force will flow effortlessly through you.”
“Listen beneath the sensations of your breathing for the silence underlying all experience.”
“Wake up to yourself as a breathing being! Let your breath empty you of old attitudes and fill you with new delights.”
“The more present you are to your breathing and the less you try to control it, the more vital and natural it will become.”
“With warm hands on your belly, smile and breathe into your heart, giving thanks for its ceaseless work on your behalf.”
“Breath awareness, following your breath without trying to change it, helps you discover a silent place within–pure welcoming.”
“A taste of real presence: Spend a few minutes simply being aware of how you’re breathing, without trying to change anything.”
“Good morning! Put a smile on your face and breathe through the smile into your heart and belly. Enjoy for many breaths.”
“Only when our whole body breathes can we fully access our inner healing power, the organic vitality that is our birthright.”
“If you are present, there’s no such thing as ‘this moment.’ There’s only a continuous NOW with ever-changing experiences.”
“Most of the negativity we manifest toward ourselves and others arises from our inability to see and accept ‘what is.’”
“To exhale is to expire, to die in peace to your ego; to inhale is to be inspired, to open spontaneously to the life-force.”
“When you grab for air you will inevitably end up breathless. Exhale fully and let the in-breath arise on its own.”
“Let your breath flow out and in, in a natural rhythm of giving and receiving, without being controlled by the ego.”
“When you breathe not from your center but from the upper part of your body–the area of ego–you show a deep mistrust of life.”
“Don’t try to breathe; it will create excessive tension in your breathing. Let yourself be breathed by something greater.”
“Notice how you often hold your breath at times of uncertainty. Then simply let go into the unknown through a long exhalation.”
“Not only is your body in the world, but the world is in your body. What’s the weather like there now?”
“Both love and hatred are contagious. Which are you spreading through your thoughts, emotions, and actions?”
“To observe oneself exactly as one is now takes courage. It takes an act of unconditional love.”
“There’s no need to rush into the future. It always arrives now.”
“While you’re waiting for the light, you can learn to welcome the darkness, the return to the unknown.”
“Being smiled by something far greater than my self-image, and breathing through the smile into my heart. Join me!”
“The life force is always trying to engage us. We just need to learn to let go and get out of the way.”
“What creates unnecessary stress in our lives is not our thoughts but rather our identification with them.”
“Have you pondered the difference between speaking ‘about’ presence and speaking ‘from’ presence?”
“Don’t know whether or not to do something? Flip a coin! It’s more honest than imagining you ought to know.” (My rendering of a statement from my teacher).
“At the end of the out-breath, return to the welcoming presence that is what you are. Rest there until the in-breath gathers you into itself.”
“Intimate awareness begins with learning how to sense our breathing in the midst of thoughts, emotions and actions.”
“A tense jaw and throat can constrict your diaphragm and breathing. To relax them, make several ‘haaa’ sounds with mouth wide open.”
“Without mindfulness we live on automatic pilot. Can you awaken from your dreams and pay attention now?”
“Having compassion toward others is more possible when we see and embrace the truth about ourselves.”
“Even with the biggest leap, going from here to there always begins here and ends here. Where are you now?”
“It’s precisely in the midst of the messiness of life that one can discover the great beauty and clarity of simple welcoming.”
“The struggle we need to undertake for real growth is the struggle to see the many ways we constantly lie to ourselves.”
“The true mystery of time and space is not to be found some time and place other than where we are right now. ‘Who’ is open to the mystery?”
“To transform your breathing and your life, start with exhalation, with ‘letting go’ of what is unnecessary.”
“We carry our history in our breath. Can you sense your breathing now without trying to change it? That’s the first step to freedom.”
“Sense your body becoming the spaciousness of the air you breathe.”
“Laziness: Believing in and being distracted by our associative thoughts and feelings, as well as the comforting stories we tell ourselves.”
“The question ‘who am I?’ is the most honest, far-reaching question we can ask ourselves. Can you feel the question come alive now?”
From The Tao of Natural Breathing (Rodmell Press, 1997-2006)
“The process of breathing, if we can begin to understand it in relation to the whole of life, shows us the way to let go of the old and open to the new.”
” … the work with breathing starts with sensing the inner atmosphere of our organism — the basic emotional stance we take to ourselves and the world.”
“For the Taoist, the conscious cultivation of breath offers a powerful way not only to extract energies from the outside world but also to regulate the energetic pathways of our inner world, helping to bring our body, mind, and emotions into harmonious balance.”
” … when we are able to breathe through our whole body, sensing our verticality from head to foot, we are aligning ourselves with the natural flow of energy connecting heaven and earth.”
” … each breath we take is filled not only with the nutrients and energies we need for life, but also with the expansive, open quality of space. It is this quality of spaciousness, if we allow it to enter us, that can help us open to deeper levels of our own being and to our own inner powers of healing.”
“The ‘smiling breath’ is for me a fundamental practice of both self-awareness and self-healing. The sensitive, relaxing energy field that it produces helps me observe by contrast the unhealthy tensions, attitudes, and habits that undermine my health and vitality. What’s more, the practice helps to detoxify, energize, and regulate the various organs and tissues of my body, and thus helps not only to strengthen my immune system but also to transform the very way I sense and feel myself.”
“Where our breath goes, our attention can also go. By learning how to breathe naturally — that is, by learning how to breathe vitality into every corner of our being — we not only promote the expansion of our inner consciousness, but we also stimulate the healthful, harmonious movement of substances and energies throughout our bodies.”
From Free Your Breath, Free Your Life (Shambhala Publications, 2004)
“Healthy breathing is not just a matter of the oxygen/carbon dioxide balance or other biochemical processes in the body, but is also related to the free, spontaneous rhythms and movements of breathing in our muscles, fascia, bones (including the spine), organs, fluids, and energy channels. It is the full, free, harmonious expression of these rhythms and movements of breathing that helps support our overall health and animate our being.” (p. 19)
“To live from more of the whole of ourselves is only possible, I believe, when we can fully exhale, when we can let go of everything that is truly unnecessary in our lives. We’re not just talking about a physical act here; we’re also talking about a psychological and spiritual one as well.” (p. 7)
“One of the first steps in full exhalation is to become aware of the many unnecessary physical, emotional, and mental tensions that we carry with us in almost every aspect of our lives, and to understand that these tensions derive, for the most part, from the mostly distorted, illusory image that we have of ourselves. This is no small task, since for many of us these tensions are so deeply embodied in the way we live that, if we are aware of them at all, we justify them as just a ‘normal’ part of living. As ‘normal’ as they might be in today’s world, they are certainly not natural, and they have a powerful negative influence on our breathing, our health, and our spiritual well-being.” (p. 109)
“Our breath originates from the very source of all life, whatever we may wish to call this source. In Genesis, for example, it is God who breathes ‘the breath of life’ into man. Our in-breath represents inspiration, or creation. Our out-breath represents expiration, or death. Each breath we take can be a joyous reminder of the great mystery of birth and death and of the unfathomable energy that sustains us and enables us to unfold as individuals in space and time.” (p. 97)
“…learning to let go, to exhale completely, is in fact a movement into the unknown. When we truly let go, we do not know what will happen next or where we will find ourselves. In letting go, we give up, if only for a moment, a sense of controlling our lives. And even though we know in our heart of hearts that such giving up of control is vital not only for our breath, but also for our inner growth and our happiness, many of us are afraid of allowing it to happen.” (p. 139)
From The Journal of Harmonious Awakening (no longer being published, some essays available here)
“Many of us when we speak try to say too much too quickly. Sometimes we try to say as much as we can before we are interrupted. At other times we just get get carried away in expressing our thoughts or feelings. In doing so we often find ourselves still speaking when we simply don’t have enough breath left to support our voice. When this happens we quickly find ourselves grasping (or even gasping) for air. This grasping creates tensions in our diaphragm, chest, back, belly, and so on, and not only undermines our breathing but also our communication. A voice deprived of the power of the breath does not carry the harmonic nuances and subtleties that are such an important part of the spoken word. …” (Don’t Let Yourself Become Breathless When You Speak, April, 2008)
“…the inward call toward being and the outward urge toward manifestation complement and complete each other. The movement inward unchecked by the demand for outward manifestation turns into imagination and dreaming. And outward manifestation without an inner search is empty and simply creates confusion in both ourselves and the world. It is the silence encompassing both of these directions that can bring these two movements into harmony and put us into touch with a new, global awareness that embraces everything in our lives. From the perspective of this awareness, there is no duality; there is only the direct, unified perception of wholeness. …” (The Silence at the Heart of Being, May, 2008)
“Many people believe–and the traditional teachings seem at first glance to support this–that it is the mind, with its constant emphasis on thinking and memory, that cuts us off from presence, from the immediacy of the mystery and miracle of consciousness itself. Some of these traditions tell us that it is only by quieting the mind and letting go of our ideas about ourselves and the world that we can truly be present to reality as it is. While this is true at a certain level, it leaves out the obvious fact that the reality of our daily lives includes thinking and memory. These functions are part and parcel of what it means to be human. To attempt to eradicate or suppress them is to create enemies within ourselves and thus turn away from our own living wholeness. …” (The Power of Great Ideas to Support Presence, June, 2008)
“The great spiritual traditions … teach that relaxation–including the special, inner action called “letting go”–lies at the heart of inner work and awakening. The principle is a simple one, at least on the surface: unnecessary physical or nervous tension clouds our perceptive faculties. It cuts us off from the light of consciousness and from the direct inner and outer impressions of reality it can bring. Deep, conscious relaxation is what can “open” us in a harmonious way–body, mind, and feelings–to new levels and frequencies of perception. It can help us reclaim the miraculous sense of aliveness and awakeness that is our birthright. …” (Relaxation & Letting Go, July 2008)
“We all have a self-image. We all have a subjective identity fashioned over the years from the material of thought, feeling, sensation, posture, and movement. The overall image we have of ourselves, however, seldom bears any resemblance either to how others see us or to our inborn potential. As a result, most of us live stunted, illusory lives expressing only a small part of who we really are and can be. …” (Exploring our Self-Image, August 2008)
“The question ‘who am I?’ is perhaps the most honest, far-reaching question we can ask ourselves, the question which puts us directly in front of the mystery and miracle of our existence. Yet from childhood on we are given superficial answers to this question, answers which denude the question of its power to awaken us. Answers that take the unknown out of our lives. …” (Awakening to the Unknown, September 2008)
“As we attempt to move from the known to the unknown in our inner and outer lives, one of the chief obstacles facing us is our slavery to the habits of body, mind, and feeling that we have learned in order to live comfortably and securely in a world that is in essence unpredictable. Though these various habits are absolutely necessary to the process of growing up, they gradually become invisible to us as habits, and we mistake them for the “only” or “right” way to be or live. Because these habits are reinforced through constant repetition, they gradually shape our brain and nervous system in increasingly rigid and predictable ways, so that new experiences of ourselves, others, and the world become less and less possible. To open ourselves again to the unknown means to find ways to see these habits for what they are–mostly arbitrary limitations on our perception and behavior–and to begin to free ourselves from those that buffer us from ourselves and others.” (Habits & the Unknown, October 2008)
“Though many of us are familiar with the traditional ideas of energy transformation, especially with regard to chakras, meridians, channels, and energy centers, few of us consciously experience our energy in our daily lives. Typically, we notice the state of our energy only when we are bubbling over with it, when we are exhausted, when we are meditating, or when we are doing some kind of intense work with our bodies. The rest of the time we are oblivious to the amount or quality of the energy we have or to how it moves through our organism. Consequently, it most often gets spent mechanically in relation to whatever attracts or occupies our attention at the moment.” (The Energy of Awakening, Nov/Dec, 2008)
“In an interview that I conducted in 1993 in Moscow with Father Alexander Mumrikov, a Deacon of the Russian Orthodox Church, I asked Father Alexander about the relationship of personal problems to spiritual growth. Father Alexander replied: ‘In contrast to the Protestant dictum–”no problem”–we believe that Orthodoxy must have problems. The more a person is able to become conscious of problems arising in his life, the better it is; this is an indication of inner development. It is not a question of ridding oneself of one’s problems in some way, for example by going to a psychiatrist, but rather of seeing that one’s personal problems are related to one’s spiritual problems. The Holy Fathers have made it clear that though the psychology of the soul and the psychology of the spirit are at different levels, they must be connected. If the level of the spirit is not connected to the level of the soul, it is not connected to man. He receives this as a sacrament from God.’ Father Alexander went on to tell me that those who want to work on their souls must, while working, simultaneously wait ‘for the Spirit to come down from God.’ And that this simultaneous working and waiting “creates a new system of values.” (Jan/Feb, 2009)
From Other Articles & Essays
“Self-observation is a powerful method not only of self-study but also of self-change. First introduced to the West by G. I. Gurdjieff, the remarkable teacher of psycho-spiritual transformation, as part of his overall system of work on oneself, self-observation is best approached not as a technique but rather as an entirely new relationship to oneself as a living, breathing being. Self-observation as described by Gurdjieff is an intimate pathway into one’s own mind, body, and spirit. It allows us to experience new levels of self-awareness, and by so doing to live more conscious, harmonious lives.” (From Gurdjieff & the further Reaches of Self-Observation)
“For those of us wishing to study ourselves by means of Gurdjieff’s method of self-observation, the starting point must be the overall sensation of the body. It is through this sensation, a kind of three-dimensional perceptual backdrop, that we can discern the various movements and energies of our own inner functions. Without the stability of this sensation, our efforts at self-observation will quickly turn into identification with whatever thoughts, feelings, daydreams, and so on are occurring.” (From Gurdjieff & the Further Reaches of Self-Observation)
“The struggle that we need to undertake is the struggle to see the way in which I constantly lie to myself. It is the struggle to be inwardly sincere. It is this seeing, a process that also requires the support of my body and feelings (for my sensations and feelings can also lie), that can free me from my habitual preoccupations, expectations, and beliefs—those powerful psychological states that keep me from experiencing myself and the world in the fullness of the present moment. But as anyone who has tried knows, the effort to be inwardly sincere brings with it suffering, real suffering, the immediate, painful experience of the many ways in which I cut myself off from the truth. This experience, as difficult as it is, also brings with it a great sense of freedom and joy, a sense of returning home from exile.” (From Awakening to the Miracle of Ordinary Life)
“ … the true mystery of the universe is not someplace other than where we are; it is not to be found in UFOs, or angels, or our teacher’s words; it is not to be found in our imagination or speculations. No. It is to be found right here and now in the living temple of our own awakened minds, bodies, and senses. It is to be found right here and now in the field of our consciousness. It is through an exploration of consciousness, of the ‘witness’ that can stand behind and embrace every perception and impression of our lives, that we can intentionally discover the miracle of the ordinary. But this is not so easy. As George Orwell once wrote: ‘To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.’” (From Awakening to the Miracle of Ordinary Life)
“Whatever our occupation, our skin color, our marital status, our hobbies, our beliefs, our personal interests, we are all beings who need, at heart, to rediscover the miracle, the wonder, of existing on this earth. This rediscovery begins with learning how to “stop” inwardly, to turn from the known to the unknown in ourselves. Our lives give us many opportunities to come to this “stop.” When we get into bed at night at the end of a long day, or when we first wake up in the morning and are about to leap forward into our day, there is sometimes a gap between one activity and the next, a space, where we can intentionally pause for an instant and feel a deep underlying wish, a deep longing, for something that we cannot quite define. The ordinary shocks and contradictions of our daily lives can also, if we let them, bring us to this space. We can also sometimes experience it between our various automatic thoughts and feelings, when one thought or feeling is about to run down and another begin, or between our exhalation and our inhalation. If we are to begin to practice real thinking, we need to be attentive to this gap and the deep, inner wish that it sometimes reveals. We need to give this wish time and space to expand throughout our entire being, and begin to enter into more parts of our lives. We need to respect this wish for what it truly is—a beckoning toward our own true nature—and not immediately identify it with a desire for something or someone that we think we need or want. We need to recognize that this wish is a reminder of the miracle of being.” (From Real Thinking)
“To be alive, in the truest sense of the word, means to be filled with life, to be able to receive whatever life brings—until it brings us nothing more. To live fully and freely means to welcome, without expectation, all sides of life: joy and suffering, peace and war, pleasure and pain, insight and ignorance, hope and disappointment, success and failure, clarity and confusion. Whatever noble aims we may have or necessary efforts we may make, this is the only real freedom—the freedom to say “yes” to what is, and to remember now and here the mystery and miracle of our aliveness, of the pure awareness that we are.” (From Happiness & Suffering, not available)
“Much of what we consider important in our lives pales in the light of the search for meaning, and of the certainty of our own death. Almost all the great spiritual traditions speak of finding an economy in living, a willingness to let go of what is unnecessary in our lives. It is clear that the time, energy, and money that we spend on what is unnecessary not only distracts us from more-noble pursuits, but it also contributes to the decay of real values. One need only consider society’s emphasis on economic growth and consumerism—the constant promotion of “fashionable” clothing, bigger TV screens, faster computers, the latest electronic gadgets, sports utility vehicles, bigger houses, and numerous other things that few of us actually need—to see that this is true.
In his book Walden, Thoreau points out that ‘While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them.’ Our so-called progress has done little to transform us. Perhaps it is time to learn to say ‘no’ to what is unnecessary, to economize both inside and outside us in order to help us remember that we are but sojourners on this earth. It is through this remembering that we might begin to live lives of real value and meaning.” (From Economy in Living, not available)
“Inattention is rampant not only on the Internet but in almost every area of everyday life. Many of us move through our lives so quickly (which is reflected in our fast upper chest breathing), that any real connection with ourselves, our friends, our families, and our environments is next to impossible. Inattention in one person causes problems and wasted time not only for that person but also often for others. For anyone who wishes to live a more intelligent, conscious, or spiritual life, the study of attention is crucial. Our attention is what connects us with the world in and around us. Without it, we are simply sleep walkers, experiencing little more than tiny fragments of ourselves, and out of touch with the energies and rhythms of wholeness and relationship.” (From The Need to Pay Attention, not available)
“To study the illusion of self we need to challenge our self-importance. We need to allow ourselves to be in conditions where our self-importance is called into question. For it is this habitual overriding sense of self-importance that hides our confusion and fragmentation from the light of consciousness and keeps us from feeling the need for real transformation.” (From The Illusion of Self, not available)
“Whatever else we may do, we must now begin to ask ourselves and others the hard questions necessary to shed light on the hatred and violence that face us both from within and without. We must look beyond our own personal and political and cultural notions of praise and blame, right and wrong, and good and evil to see and understand the conditions that fuel hatred and violence in human beings and that undermine the love that is the essence of our humanity. By themselves, our automatic reactions based on anger, vengeance, and retaliation–as human, understandable, and even necessary as they may be–will only exacerbate this already tragic situation and create more suffering around the world.” (Letter On the Terrorist Attack of 9/11/2001, not available)
Copyright © 1996-2010 by Dennis Lewis
