Pico Iyer Quotes

When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it.

No thought, no mind, no choice — just being silent, rooted in yourself.

Be here. Be present. Wherever you are, be there.

I meditate. Like, I try. Not every day, but even if I'm not doing that meditation, the moments of my day have changed because I'm not on my phone so much. I'm intentionally not checking my phone every two seconds.

Be mindful even if your mind is full

In an age of speed, I began to think nothing could be more exhilarating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.

Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.

What I have learned over the years is to try to stay in the moment.

I just try to concentrate on concentrating.

A simplified Christmas isn't about circumstances as much as it is about focus.

Confine yourself to the present.

Mindfulness has helped me succeed in almost every dimension of my life. By stopping regularly to look inward and become aware of my mental state, I stay connected to the source of my actions and thoughts and can guide them with considerably more intention.

You are running to seek your friend. Let your feet run, but your mind need not.

I look at what's in front of me. I concentrate on that and then hopefully move on.

The single guiding principle that I try to follow, assuming blindly that the rest will fall into place, is to operate squarely in the present. I think it's one of the most difficult things for anyone to do.

At the Cruiserweight Classic finale, I said... I don't know if people had looked it up, or if they had heard it before, but it was an old Zen proverb. 'Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, you chop wood, carry water.' It can be interpreted a lot of ways, but for the most part it's about staying in the moment.

Take each day as it comes and focus on the present moment.

Small rooms or dwellings set the mind in the right path, large ones cause it to go astray.

Whatever you do, whatever you're working with, whether it's manual work or talking to people or buying or selling, every little thing encompasses the power and simplicity of presence.

Whatever you do, do with deep alertness, then even small things become sacred.

Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing.

If you keep your attention in the body as much as possible, you will be anchored in the Now. You won't lose yourself in the external world, and you won't lose yourself in your mind. Thoughts and emotions, fears and desires may still be there to some extent, but they won't take you over.

Here is the Divine Dichotomy... The way to 'get there' is to 'be there'. Just be where you choose to get!' It's that simple.

Instead of 'watching the thinker,' you can also create a gap in the mind stream simply by directing the focus of your attention into the Now. Just become intensely conscious of the present moment. This is a deeply satisfying thing to do. In this way, you draw consciousness away from mind activity and create a gap of no-mind in which you are highly alert and aware but not thinking. This is the essence of meditation.

Meditation is not concentration. It is simple awareness. You simply relax and watch the breathing. In that watching, nothing is excluded. The car is humming - perfectly okay, accept it. The traffic is passing - that's okay, part of life. The fellow passenger snoring by your side, accept it. Nothing is rejected. You are not to narrow down your consciousness.