Quotes about Presence

If you can recognize and accept your pain without running away from it, you will discover that although pain is there, joy can also be there at the same time.

I come here empty-handed, and I go empty-handed. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.

While washing the dishes, you might be thinking about the tea afterwards, and so try to get them out of the way as quickly as possible in order to sit and drink tea. But that means that you are incapable of living during the time you are washing the dishes.

If we lose the present moment, we lose life.

Whenever I feel sad or a little fragile, I invoke their presence (the ancestors) for support, and they never fail to be there.

When a feeling or thought arises, your intention should not be to chase it away, even if by continuing to concentrate on the breath the feeling or thought passes naturally from the mind. The intention isn't to chase it away, hate it, worry about it, or be frightened by it. So what exactly should you be doing concerning such thoughts and feelings? Simply acknowledge their presence.

The only place where we can touch Jesus and the Kingdom of God is within us.

The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. The most important person is always the person you are with, who is right before you.

The most effective way to show compassion to another is to listen, rather than talk. You have an opportunity to practice deep, compassionate listening. If you can listen to the other person with compassion, your listening is like a salve for her wound. In the practice of compassionate listening, you listen with only one purpose, which is to give the other person the chance to speak out and to suffer less.

The fruit of mindfulness practice is the realization that peace and joy are available within us and around us, right here and right now.

Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.

Whatever the tasks, do them slowly and with ease, in mindfulness.