meditation

I sit in meditation_and soon all sounds, and all one sees and feels, take on imminence, an immanence, as if the Universe were coming to attention, a Universe of which one is the center, a Universe that is not the same yet not different from oneself: within man as within mountains there are many parts of hydrogen and oxygen, of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and other elements. __ou never enjoy the world aright, till the Sea itself flows in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars_(Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditation)The secret of the mountains is that the mountains simply exist, as I do myself: the mountains exist simply, which I do not. The mountains have no __eaning,_ they are meaning; the mountains are. The sun is round. I ring with life, and the mountains ring, and when I can hear it, there is a ringing that we share.

In the book of Job, the Lord demands, __here wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?___ was there!_-surely that is the answer to God__ question. For no matter how the universe came into being, most of the atoms in these fleeting assemblies that we think of as our bodies have been in existence since the beginning. Each breath we take contains hundreds of thousands of the inert, pervasive argon atoms that were actually breathed in his lifetime by the Buddha, and indeed contain parts of all the __norts, sighs, bellows, shrieks_ of all creatures that ever existed or will exist. These atoms flow backward and forward in such useful but artificial constructs as time and space, in the same universal rhythms, universal breath as the tides and stars, joining both the living and the dead in that energy which animates the universe.

Carefully analyze the old stories that you choose to perpetually tell, for these are really life-long meditations.

Nothing is more necessary to the culture of the higher sciences, or of the more elevated departments of science, than meditation; and nothing is less suited to meditation than the structure of democratic society.

Meditation is not just blissing out under a mango tree. It completely changes your brain and therefore changes what you are.

I think they paid attention to their lives and became wise. For those of us who don__ arrive at wisdom naturally, meditation is one way to get there through practice.

Start deep within yourself and slowly build outward toward your goal.

Meditate, _nanda, do not delay, or else you will regret it later. This is our instruction to you.

Intuition is to develop a trust in yourself, and to the silent whisperings of your heart. If you trust yourself, you can trust others, you can trust existence.

Life is so humbling, when we slow down and witness the gifts.

All other creatures look down toward the earth, but man was given a face so that might turn his eyes toward the stars and his gaze upon the sky.

I'm completely out of control, and I can hear the beginnings of the chant, get/out/, but now that I'm not being touched maybe I can master it and I shut the world out: separating an orange into skinless sections. Peel it, but not with your fingers. Level off the top and bottom. Set it on the board. Remove the peel in strips with a paring knife, pushing down from the top to bottom with slow, curved strokes. Nick off all the white parts. Cup the cool, wet skinless fruit in your hand. Take care. Don't rush. Press the blade into the flesh of the orange, sink it down, a segment at a time, along the left side of the skin and then the right. Left and right. Left and right. As close as you can to the membrane. Press to the center with your knife, level and easy. If you cut right, the segment will fall out onto the board, triangular, gleaming. Left and right. Left and right. If you rush you'll cut yourself. Take care with it. Cut right along the seam, right where the sweet fruit meets the tough membrane. Let and right. Left and right. As close as you can.

We know Existence, because we are existence. We know Truth, because we are truth.We know Life, because we are life itself.The mind cannot remember this, because it is an experience far removed from it. The mind is an observer, not a knower. It can remember, but it cannot become what it remembers.The mind is a false witness to truth, life, and existence.

In sitting meditation, our practice is to watch our thoughts arise, label them "thinking", and return to the breath.

If the object of meditation were something concrete, something solid and graspable - an image or a statue or a dot on the floor or a candle - it would be much more of a concentration exercise. But the breath is very elusive; even if you wanted to give it one hundred percent attention, it would be difficult because it is so ephemeral, so light, so airy and spacious. As the object of meditation, it brings a sense of softness and gentleness.

Only in the present is your mind free to do what it does best _ solve problems.

Whatever you do, put your inner work first.

Meditation practice isn__ about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better.