Sharon Salzberg Quotes

With the practice of meditation we can develop this ability to more fully love ourselves and to more consistently love others.

There are things I still criticize myself heavy for. There are days I have to pick myself back up, but that, to me, is success; it's getting to both sides: physical and the spiritual, mental. Just peace. Peace of mind.

Today I am loving and kind to myself and others.

I try not to be judgmental. I meditate twice a day. I get some sort of physical exercise. I infuse my life with love. I love what I do, the job.

In a basic way, acceptance is seeing clearly what's happening and holding it with kindness. This is a radical antidote to the suffering of judging mind.

Rest and be kind, you don't have to prove anything

It is only when we begin to relax with ourselves that meditation becomes a transformative process. Only when we relate with ourselves without moralizing, without harshness, without deception, can we let go of harmful patterns. Without maitri (metta), renunciation of old habits becomes abusive. This is an important point.

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

Maybe the most important teaching is to lighten up and relax. It's such a huge help in working with our crazy mixed-up minds to remember that what we're doing is unlocking a softness that is in us and letting it spread. We're letting it blur the sharp corners of self-criticism and complaint.

The real 'work' of prayer is to become silent and listen to the voice that says good things about me.

Meditation practice is a way of making friends with ourselves. Whether we are worthy or unworthy, that's not the point. It's developing a friendly attitude to ourselves, accepting the hidden neurosis coming through.

The painful thing is that when we buy into disapproval, we are practicing disapproval. When we buy into harshness, we are practicing harshness. The more we do it, the stronger these qualities become. How sad it is that we become so expert at causing harm to ourselves and others. The trick then is to practice gentleness and letting go. We can learn to meet whatever arises with curiosity and not make it such a big deal.

The two wings of mindfulness and kindness will begin to open the heart to more connection with our world.

I was never appalled by myself. I felt a little bit uneasy about certain things. But honestly I've learned to love myself and to see that in the midst of all my ambition and desire to succeed and my search for approval, I do give things to people. I bring some sort of happiness to their lives. So I'm not so hard on myself anymore.

We're all always acting. You need to be able to sit in silence and not beat up on yourself. It's hard to say to yourself, 'You are human. Welcome to the human race.'

Your best changes from moment to moment, sick or well, tired or rested. Remember that you are an imperfect human being. There is no value to judging yourself for

Don't be so hard on yourself, don't put pressure on yourself, life is just a chain of experiments and results, and you'll be perfect when you're dead.

There's no wrong way to meditate. And meditation should never be a difficult practice that leads to self criticism.

I loved reading the Dalai Lama's words: My religion is loving-kindness. I realized that meant loving-kindness to everyone in my life: past, present, and future; and that meant loving-kindness to myself-in my pain, in my jealousy, in my fear.

Practice can be stated very simply. It is moving from a life of hurting myself and others to a life of not hurting myself and others. That seems so simple-except when we substitute for real practice some idea that we should be different or better than we are, or that our lives should be different from the way they are. When we substitute our ideas about what should be (such notions as "I should not be angry or confused or unwilling") for our life as it truly is, then we're off base and our practice is barren.

Mindfulness needs to not be judgmental to really be mindfulness, which means it needs a basis of loving kindness.

We're really hard on ourselves and just need to relax more. A lot of guys really prefer you more natural. That's from experience.

I will greet this day with love in my heart.

Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world.

Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already.