When we meditate we expand, spreading our wings like a bird, trying to enter consciously into Infinity, Eternity and Immortality, welcoming them into our aspiring consciousness. We see, feel and grow into the entire universe of Light-Delight.
—Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian Yoga Teacher
Those who know others are intelligent; those who know themselves are truly wise . Those who master others are strong; those who master themselves have true power
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
It is extroversion that wastes our energy and makes us feel weak. In a state of introversion we think less and speak less. We then have the power to put into action whatever we think and whatever we need to do.
—Indian Proverb
Whatever forms of meditation you practice, the most important point is to apply mindfulness continuously, and make a sustained effort. It is unrealistic to expect results from meditation within a short period of time. What is required is continuous sustained effort.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader, Civil Rights Leader, Philosopher, Author
I meditate So that I can inundate My entire being With the omnipotent Power of peace
—Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian Yoga Teacher
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
—Buddhist Teaching
When you meditate, what you actually do is to enter into a calm or still, silent mind. We have to be fully aware of the arrival and attack of thoughts. That is to say, we shall not allow any thought, divine or undivine, good or bad, to enter into our mind. Our mind should be absolutely silent. Then we have to go deep within; there we have to observe our real existence
—Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian Yoga Teacher
Thus meditating you will no longer strive to build yourself up in your prejudices, but, forgetting self, you will remember only that you are seeking the Truth
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Why do we meditate? We meditate precisely because this world of ours has disappointed us and because failure looms large in our day-to-day life. We want fulfilment. We want joy, peace, bliss and perfection within and without. Meditation is the answer, the only answer
—Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian Yoga Teacher
Practice meditation regularly. Meditation leads to eternal bliss. Therefore meditate, meditate.
—Sivananda Saraswati (1887–1963) Indian Hindu Spiritual Teacher
Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.
—B. K. S. Iyengar (1918–2014) Indian Hindu Yoga Teacher
In meditation we are continuously discovering who and what we are.
—Sakyong Mipham (b.1962) Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader, Teacher, Lama
Only so far as a man is happily married to himself, is he fit for married life to another, and for family life generally.
—Novalis (1772–1801) German Romantic Poet, Novelist
The quiet hour of prayer is one of the most favorable opportunities He has in which to speak to us seriously. In quietude and solitude before the face of God our souls can hear better than at any other time.
—Ole Hallesby (1879–1961) Norwegian Lutheran Theologian
During meditation if you can really make yourself feel that you have only the heart, or if you can feel that you do not even have the heart, but that our whole existence from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head is the soul, then you will see that the mind does not exist. But if you annot feel the presence of your soul, you can easily feel your heart’s presence and your heart’s glow. When you see light glowing in the heart or n the soul, you can rest assured that you have already transcended the intellectual mind. At this stage you have entered into the illumined mind, hich is very different from the reasoning, intellectual mind
—Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian Yoga Teacher
Those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. But those who are temperate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of sorrow through meditation.
—The Bhagavad Gita Hindu Scripture
You must direct your full, intense concentration on the heart. You must feel that you are not the mind. You have to feel that you are growing into the heart. You are only the heart and nothing else
—Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian Yoga Teacher
Excerpt from Prayer-World, Mantra-World And Japa
—Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian Yoga Teacher
Music without words means leaving behind the mind. And leaving behind the mind is meditation. Meditation returns you to the source. And the source of all is sound.
—Kabir (1440–1518) Indian Mystic
Meditation is an effort in the beginning. Later on it becomes habitual and gives bliss, joy and peace
—Sivananda Saraswati (1887–1963) Indian Hindu Spiritual Teacher
The child can become conscious only if in his past life he has meditated enough, has created enough meditative energy to fight with the darkness that death brings. One simply is lost in an oblivion and then suddenly finds a new womb and forgets completely about the old body. There is a discontinuity. This darkness, this unconsciousness creates the discontinuity. The East has been working hard to penetrate these barriers. And ten thousand years’ work has not been in vain. Everybody can penetrate to the past life, or many past lives. But for that you have to go deeper into your meditation, for two reasons: unless you go deeper, you cannot find the door to another life; secondly, you have to be deeper in meditation because if you find the door of another life, a flood of events will come into the mind. It is hard enough even to carry one life….
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
He is divinely bent on meditation.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
He who always thinks himself as weak will never become strong, but he who knows himself to be a lion, rushes out from the worlds meshes, as a lion from its cage.
—Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu Monk, Mystic
When the time arrives for you To leave this life for another life, If you wish to go To a beautiful and soulful world, Then you will need a valid passport, And that passport is your meditation Here on earth
—Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) Indian Yoga Teacher
If a person’s basic state of mind is serene and calm, then it is possible for this inner peace to overwhelm a painful physical experience. On the other hand, if someone is suffering from depression, anxiety, or any form of emotional distress, then even if he or she happens to be enjoying physical comforts, he will not really be able to experience the happiness that these could bring.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Religious Leader, Civil Rights Leader, Philosopher, Author
The Perfect Teacher himself has shown
That in this way all fears
As well as all boundless miseries
Originate from the mind.
—Shantideva (685–763) Indian Buddhist Scholar
Nature has come to a point where now, unless you take individual responsibility, you cannot grow. More than this nature cannot do. It has done enough. It has given you life, it has given you opportunity; now how to use it, it has left up to you.
Meditation is your freedom…
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there—buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day
—Deepak Chopra (b.1946) Indian-born American Physician, Public Speaker, Writer
Seek truth in meditation, not in moldy books. Look in the sky to find the moon, not in the pond
—Persian Proverb
Meditation and water are wedded for ever.
—Herman Melville (1819–91) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Essayist, Poet