The Mind Illuminated
The reason you sit down to meditate is to learn how to remain conscious inside while your mind creates thoughts and your heart creates emotions. Whatever is going on in there is fine—as long as you can objectively observe it. This is called mindful meditation.
Michael A. Singer • Living Untethered: Beyond the Human Predicament
Interestingly, what you consider the start and end of a breath cycle matters. We automatically tend to regard the beginning as the inhale and the pause after the exhale as the end. However, if you’re thinking about the breath in that way, then that pause becomes the perfect opportunity for your thoughts to wander off, since the mind naturally tends
... See moreCuladasa John Yates • The Mind Illuminated - A Complete Meditation Guide Integrating Buddhist Wisdom and Brain Science
If you haven’t trained your capacity of bringing all your attention to just one object, there will be dispersion and disturbance. You have to be one hundred percent in the here and now.
Thich Nhat Hanh • Answers from the Heart: Practical Responses to Life's Burning Questions
Imagine that you are watching a quietly flowing brook with large leaves on it floating by. Each thought that comes into your mind, place it on a leaf and watch it float downstream. If it reappears, that is fine—just put the second version on a leaf too. The goal is to stay by the stream, watching your thoughts. If you discover you’ve stopped doing
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