Meditation is not a means of forgetting the ego; it is a method of using the ego to observe and tame its own manifestations.
Mark EpsteinRead
Desire is a teacher: When we immerse ourselves in it without guilt, shame, or clinging, it can show us something special about our own minds that allows us to embrace life fully.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Desire can teach us about ourselves if we approach it without negative emotions.
Mark Epstein's quote emphasizes the idea that desire, when experienced without feelings of guilt or clinging, serves as a valuable teacher. By fully engaging with our desires, we can gain insights into our minds and ultimately embrace life in a more fulfilling way. This perspective encourages a mindful relationship with our cravings, suggesting that they can reveal deeper truths about ourselves and our experiences if we allow them to do so positively.
Themes
DesireMindfulnessSelf-DiscoveryLifeGuilt
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a lecture about self-awareness and personal growth.
More from Mark Epstein
All quotes →While the primary function of formal Buddhist meditation is to create the possibility of the experience of "being," my work as a therapist has shown me that the demands of intimate life can be just as useful as meditation in moving people toward this capacity. Just as in formal meditation, intimate relationships teach us that the more we relate to each other as objects, the greater our disappointment. The trick, as in meditation, is to use this disappointment to change the way we relate.
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If aspects of the person remain undigested-cut off, denied, projected, rejected, indulged, or otherwise unassimilated-they become the points around which the core forces of greed, hatred and delusion attach themselves.
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It is exceedingly difficult to maintain a sense of absence without turning that absence into some kind of presence
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It’s one of my theories that when people give you advice, they’re really just talking to themselves in the past.
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We are looking for a way to feel more real, but we do not realize that to feel more real we have to push ourselves further into the unknown.
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