Peter Matthiessen Quotes

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

I'm really trying to be in the now - that's so spiritual and stuff. It's just so much more pleasant and sane.

Yoga is not about the history of yoga. Yoga is not about being in a sacred community of the initiated few. Yoga is about uniting inward, which takes place in the present, not the past, in each and every moment.

But man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present, but with reverted eye laments the past, or, heedless of the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time.

To be in touch with yourself requires great sensitivity to everything that's going on here and now.

Practice moment to moment non-judgemental awareness.

I had been reading this book about Zen Koan philosophy, and it was talking about the right here and the right now, and how important it is, and I was really trying to get there in my life.

To meditate is to be aware of what is going on - in our bodies, our feelings our minds, and in the world. When we settle into the present moment, we can see the beauties and wonders before our eyes.

We can shift from time-bound awareness into timeless awareness . . . to the ecstasy that can only be found in the present moment.

Stop thinking of what you intend to do. Stop thinking of what you have just done. Then, stop thinking that you have stopped thinking of those things. Then you will find the Now, the time that stretches eternal, and is really the only time there is.

find your eternity in each moment

Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully in each moment to be present; inviting ourselves to interface with this moment in full awareness, with the intention to embody as best we can an orientation of calmness, mindfulness, and equanimity right here and right now.

The secret of awakening is to unconditionally accept this moment as it is.

Most of us live in the past, carrying our hurts, guilts and fears. We have to face the pain we carry, lest we spend the rest of our lives running away from it or letting it run us. But the only place you'll ever meet the real is now-here.

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.

I think it's so important to have a practice, because the consciousness isn't perfection or enlightenment or any of that bullshit. The consciousness is, "Oh, I'm walking down the street and I'm doing nothing."

Every moment is an eternity in itself. Bliss is the present moment and each and everyone of us needs to understand this.

My meditation is not something separate from life, it is something that has to be spread all over life.

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.

Alone let him constantly meditate in solitude on that which is salutary for his soul, for he who meditates in solitude attains supreme bliss.

A great hallmark of mental wellness is the ability to be in the present moment, fully and with no thoughts of being elsewhere.

I meditate two hours a day, and every year I do one big long meditation course. I love it, and I'm really into it.

The truth is that you can only come to know God when you give up the past and the future in your mind and merge totally into the now, because God is always here now.

The way I try to live is 'Be here now.' Be your best self now.

It's always a weird feeling being on the red carpet, but the more I go, the more I try to connect myself to the here and now. And breathe. That's the way I make the experience a good one. If I think too much - if my head is somewhere else because I'm stressed out - it shows.