Sharon Salzberg Quotes - Page 2

The combination of realizing our distinctiveness along with our unity is seeing interdependence.

At times, reality is love’s great challenge. When our old stories and dreams are shattered, our first instinct may be to resist, deny, or cling to the way things were. But if we loosen our grip, often what fills the space is a tender forgiveness and the potential for a new and different kind of love.

The skills available to us through mindfulness make it possible to bring love to our connections with others.

The heart contracts when our bodies are overcome by shame.

The embodiment of kindness is often made difficult by our long ingrained patternsof fear & jealousy.

When we relate to ourselves with loving kindness, perfectionism naturally drops away.

The key to cultivating confidence in ourselves is understanding our right to make the truth our own.

Even as we live with the knowledge that each day might be our last, we don’t want to believe it.

Distraction wastes our energy, concentration restores it.

Although much of the work we do in committed relationships we do with our partners, sometimes it’s necessary to start with ourselves.

It is never too late to turn on the light. Your ability to break an unhealthy habit or turn off an old tape doesn't depend on how long it has been running; a shift in perspective doesn't depend on how long you've held on to the old view. When you flip the switch in that attic, it doesn't matter whether its been dark for ten minutes, ten years or ten decades. The light still illuminates the room and banishes the murkiness, letting you see the things you couldn't see before.Its never too late to take a moment to look.

Once we are honest about our feelings, we can invite ourselves to consider alternative modes of viewing our pain and can see that releasing our grip on anger and resentment can actually be an act of self-compassion.

Our senses are often the gateway to our stories.

The unconscious mind is a vast repository of experiences and associations that sorts things out much faster than the slow-moving conscious mind.

Often in close relationships, the subject being discussed is not the subject at all.

Restore your attention or bring it to a new level by dramatically slowing down whatever you're doing.

Mindfulness, also called wise attention, helps us see what we’re adding to our experiences, not only during meditation sessions but also elsewhere.

Every time we forget to breathe or our minds wander or we’re hijacked by feelings or sensations, we gently bring ourselves back to the breath, again and again.

Meditation may be done in silence & stillness, by using voice & sound, or by engaging the body in movement. All forms emphasize the training of attention.

The notion of loving oneself has gotten an undeservedly bad rap, which goes something like this: self-love is narcissistic, selfish, self-indulgent, the supreme delusion of a runaway ego looking out for “number one.” In fact, just the opposite is true.

Forgiveness is a personal process that doesn’t depend on us having direct contact with the people who have hurt us.

Taking responsibility for oneself is by definition an act of kindness.

When we practice metta, we open continuously to the truth of our actual experience, changing our relationship to life.

Real forgiveness in close relationships is never easy. It can’t be rushed or engineered.

Mindfulness is the agent of our freedom. Through mindfulness we arrive at faith we grow in wisdom & we attain equanimity.

Each opportunity to interrupt the onslaught of thoughts and return to the object of meditation is, in fact, a moment of enlightenment

We learn from conflicts only when we are willing to do so.

Forgiveness can be bittersweet. It contains the sweetness of the release of a story that has caused us pain, but also the poignant reminder that even our dearest relationships change over the course of a lifetime.

Vulnerability in the face of constant change is what we share, whatever our present condition.

Ultimately, we forgive others in order to free ourselves.

In more ways than any of us can name, love is wrapped up with the idea of expectation.

What makes awe such a powerful call to love is that it’s disruptive. It sneaks up on us. It doesn’t ask our permission to wow us; it just does. Awe can arise from a single glance, a sound, a gesture.

Our path, our sense of spirituality demands great earnestness, dedication, sincerity & continuity.

Hatred does not help us alleviate our pain even in the slightest.

Shame weakens us. It can make us frightened to take on something new. We start to withdraw from whatever might give us pleasure, self-esteem, or a sense of our value.

Wholehearted acceptance is a basic element of love, starting with love for ourselves, and a gateway to joy. Through the practices of loving kindness and self-compassion, we can learn to love our flawed and imperfect selves. And in those moments of vulnerability, we open our hearts to connect with each other, as well. We are not perfect, but we are enough.

Living in a story of a limited self—to any degree—is not love.

When our focus is on seeking, perfecting, or clinging to romance, the charge is often generated by instability, rather than by an authentic connection with another person.

Mindfulness helps us to set boundaries by revealing what makes us unhappy & what brings us peace.

Loving kindness is the practice of offering to oneself and others wishes to be happy, peaceful, healthy, strong

By accepting and learning to embrace the inevitable sorrows of life, we realize that we can experience a more enduring sense of happiness.

We are all too often told by someone that we are too old, too young, too different, too much the same, and those comments can be devastating.

Paying attention to the ethical implications of our choices has never been more pressing—or more complicated—than it is today.

There’s no denying that it takes effort to set the intention to see our fundamental connected-ness with others.

When we feel conflicted about a particular decision or action, our bodies often hold the answer—if we take the time to stop and tune in.

In Buddhism there is one word for mind & heart: chitta. Chitta refers not just to thoughts and emotions in the narrow sense of arising from the brain, but also to the whole range of consciousness, vast & unimpeded.

There is no conflict between loving others deeply and living mindfully.

Clinging to our ideas of perfection isolates us from life and is a barrier.

The journey to loving ourselves doesn’t mean we like everything.

Buddhism has a term for the happiness we feel at someone else’s success or good fortune. Sympathetic joy, as it is known, invites us to celebrate for others.

The heart is a generous muscle.

We’re in charge of our own forgiveness, and the process takes time, patience, and intention.

With attachment all that seems to exist is just me & that object I desire.

Causing harm is never just a one-way street.

Mindfulness allows us to shift the angle on our story and to remember that we have the capacity to learn and change in ways that are productive, not self-defeating.

Meditation is a cyclical process that defies analysis, but demands acceptance.

There is so much we just can't see or know right now, including precisely how our actions will ripple out.

In those moments when we realize how much we cannot control, we can learn to let go.

So often we operate from ideas of love that don’t fit our reality.

Letting go of the belief that we’re powerless to help relieve our own suffering enhances our ability not only to heal but also to genuinely love and receive the love of others.