Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes

We tend to think of meditation in only one way. But life itself is a meditation.

Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.

Go deep into meditation. and be meditation I mean silence, awareness, witnessing. You can meditate any time of the day, you can meditate working, walking, doing things. Meditation is not something separate from life; it should not be separate, otherwise it remains a little artificial. Meditation should be spread all over life. You should walk in meditation, you should sit in meditation; that means silently, fully aware. Slowly slowly it becomes your very flavour, then the bridge is created.

The real meditation is how you live your life.

From the perspective of meditation, every state is a special state, every moment a special moment.

Meditation is to be aware of what is going on in your body, in your feelings, in your mind, and in the world.

Meditation is basically the process of witnessing: looking from your centre all that is happening. Many things are happening on the outside - the noise of the train far away; something is happening in you body - your knees are hurting - right? Your mind is churning many thoughts, that 'What am I doing here?' Your heart is feeling many emotions, you have waited for this moment for so long. There is joy in the heart, a certain ecstasy, a mood, a receptivity. All those things have to be watched very minutely.

Mind only thinks, meditation lives.

Meditation has only one meaning, and that is going beyond the mind and becoming a witness. In your witnessing is the miracle - the whole mystery of life

Meditate. Breathe consciously. Listen. Pay attention. Treasure every moment. Make the connection.

Meditation is the art of awareness. And once you are aware, out of your awareness your actions will arise - not out of conscience. Conscience is cultivated by others, by the vested interests, by the establishment. Consciousness is yours. It is individual, it is not collective. Conscience is part of the mob psychology. Consciousness gives you dignity because it gives you individuality. It gives you rebellion, it makes you capable of saying yes or no of your own accord. There is no foreign agency manipulating you in the name of religion, morality, etcetera.

To be here and now, you have to be in meditation, beyond mind.

To meditate is to familiarise our mind constantly and thoroughly with a virtuous object.

One thing I do personally started 20 years ago. I started meditating, and I know twice a day I can kind of let everything drop. It's just about being quiet, like drawing back the day, and it allows me to have energy.

So I started chanting when I was nineteen, which was about twelve years ago, and it really had a huge impact on my outlook, happiness, and general creativity.

Meditation is such a more substantial reality than what we normally take to be reality.

Meditation is to get insight, to get understanding and compassion, and when you have them, you are compelled to act.

I meditate and I also think about meditation. Which is funny. I think about Maharishi, about just the idea of meditating. It gives me something.

I'd been reading Eastern philosophy since I was a kid. And I meditated. I did it on a daily basis. It's the one thing I do with any consistency. Meditation gives you a different kind of mindset. It's very powerful.

Meditation is not following any system; it is not constant repetition and imitation. Meditation is not concentration.

I have been meditating for 40 years. It makes it a bit easier to know who you are.

I've done a lot of meditation studying on my own, but I've also taken a couple of transcendence classes.

Meditation is an essential aspect of my life.

Meditation will sharpen your senses and your awareness.

I found meditation. It was more out of pure desperation: I just started to wake up at 5 and sit for one hour, and suddenly, day after day, piece by piece, I could really feel I was coming back into me.