Pema Chodron Quotes

So, in meditation practice, the best way to get somewhere is to let go of trying to get anywhere at all.

Meditation is about seeing clearly the body that we have, the mind that we have, the domestic situation that we have, the job that we have, and the people who are in our lives. It's about seeing how we react to all these things. It's seeing our emotions and thoughts just as they are right now, in this very moment, in this very room, on this very seat. It's about not trying to make them go away, not trying to become better than we are, but just seeing clearly with precision and gentleness.

Listen to the silence. Listen to your life. Be present, not just think about what's going on next week, next month.

While you are meditating, if your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the present moment.

Mindfulness is a quality that's always there. It's an illusion that there's a meditation and post-meditation period, which I always find amusing, because you're either mindful or you're not.

If you meditate, meditation is so beautiful, who bothers about the result? And if you bother about the result, meditation is not possible. This result oriented mind is the only barrier, the only block. There are not many blocks, the only block is that of the result oriented mind: never here-now, always somewhere else thinking of the result; while making love, thinking about the result.

It's helpful to remind yourself that meditation is about opening and relaxing with whatever arises, without picking and choosing.

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

when one learns a different way of dealing with the situation, one no longer has to have a purpose. One is not on the way to somewhere. Or rather, one is on the way and one is also at the destination at the same time. That is really what meditation is for.

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.

Meditation should not be regarded as a learning process. It should be regarded as an experiencing process. You should not try to learn from meditation but try to feel it. Meditation is an act of nonduality. The technique you are using should not be separate from you; it is you, you are the technique. Meditator and meditation are one. There is no relationship involved.

My meditation is a method of being aware - of whatever you are doing, thinking, feeling.

Mindfulness is not about getting anywhere else.

That is the basic pattern of this kind of meditation, which is based on three fundamental factors: first, not centralizing inward; second, not having any longing to become higher; and third, becoming completely identified with here and now.

To meditate with mindful breathing is to bring body and mind back to the present moment so that you do not miss your appointment with life.

The best gift we can have is living in the present moment and really enjoying it for what it is; and, not being in our heads and getting sidetracked.

I live in the present moment.

It's been my experience that the longer I do yoga, the more I want to know, the more I am able to understand and the less judgmental I am.

I really - I try not to look ahead too far into the future and really just appreciate the here and now.

I am only at home in the present.

I have always wanted to live in the present and never the past.

Mindfulness is often spoken of as the heart of Buddhist meditation. It's not about Buddhism, but about paying attention. That's what all meditation is, no matter what tradition or particular technique is used.

I've known for years that you're supposed to be present. I know that thinking about what's happened or thinking about what I want is not going to get me anywhere, but until I quit doing it I'm not present.

It was a hard time for me to have a pure moment, to be present, to be here.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.