Zubin Mehta Quotes

The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measures to gauge spiritual progress.

The mind is a monkey, hopping around from thought to thought, image to image. Rarely do more than a few seconds go by in which the mind can remain single-pointed, empty.

Writing is challenging work because it's so easy to get consumed with how it's going, what's going to happen to it, who's going to like or not like it. You want to get all of that stuff out of your head and just let the work flow.

Concentration is one of the happiest things in my life.

Meditation is difficult for many people because their thoughts are always on some distant object or place. One form of meditation is to label the thought as it appears and then choose to let it go.

Your mind, which is yourself, can be likened to a house. The first necessary move then, is to rid that house of all but furnishings essential to success.

If you take an hour out of your day to meditate, you will progress ten-fold. By staying mentally focused, you can let your worries go.

Getting things straight in your head is a major achievement because there's so much clutter out there. You've got to push aside the static to really hear the music.

I never listen to music when I write. It's too much of a distraction.

If you are humble, your concentration will be very high. That's the way to go in sports.

I stay in my little bubble - that is what I try and do. There is always noise out there and distractions, but you just have to block all that noise out.

As soon as I finish meditating, I get a beautiful feeling of expanded consciousness. When I'm in this headspace I can make so much progress in my writing.

When one makes the mind stick to one thought, the mind becomes rock-steady and the energy is conserved.

At times the whole world seems to be in conspiracy to importune you with emphatic trifles. Friend, client, child, sickness, fear, want, charity, all knock at once at thy closet door and say,—'Come out unto us.' But keep thy state; come not into their confusion. The power men possess to annoy me I give them by a weak curiosity. No man can come near me but through my act.

To be able to create you have to have peace of mind on some level.

When the writing is going well, I'm obsessive. I don't shower, I don't take phone calls, I hardly respond to text messages, I don't do email. I take breaks only to read, and usually I read poetry. When it's not going well, I just lie in bed and eat chocolate.

Left to it's own devices, writing is like weather. It has a drama, a form, a force to it that shapes the day. Just as good rain clears the air, a good writing day clears the psyche. There is something very right about simply letting yourself write. And the way to do that is to begin, to begin where you are.

If you can't meditate in a boiler room, you can't meditate.

When I'm sitting at my computer writing, I really have this fiendish smile on my face. I am not thinking about the past or the future or how it's going to be received. I feel that I'm very lucky that way; I don't carry that particular anxiety around with me. I'm not anxiety-free by any means, but that happens to be one that I've been spared.

I trust in my inspiration, really, and that's difficult because sometimes you would rather be technical. And once you empty your mind, empty your brain, it's really incredible. I'm very caring about things that dash into my brain, and I make sure I don't just clog it.

Yoga makes my day better as I am less likely to fall victim to my otherwise foolish & forgetful mind.

Concentration is that ability to not think about anything.

Writing at least is a silent meditation even though you’re going a hundred miles an hour.

Discipline is the servant of inspiration.

Follow the wandering, the distraction, find out why the mind has wandered; pursue it, go into it fully. When the distraction is completely understood, then that particular distraction is gone. When another comes, pursue it also.