One does not practice meditation to become a great meditator. We meditate to wake up and live, to become skilled at the art of living.
Interpretation
Meditation is not about mastering the practice, but about improving our lives.
This quote emphasizes that the primary purpose of meditation is not to excel in the act itself, but to enhance our awareness and ability to live fully and authentically. By meditating, we cultivate skills that help us navigate life with greater intention and presence.
In practice
In a mindfulness workshop, a facilitator could use this quote to illustrate the purpose of meditation.
Whatever is happening, whatever is changing, whatever is going or not going according to my plans - I release my hold on all of it. I leave behind who I think I am, who I want to be, what I want the world to be. I come home to the great peace of the present moment.
Meditation practice is like piano scales, basketball drills, ballroom dance class. Practice requires discipline; it can be tedious; it is necessary. After you have practiced enough, you become more skilled at the art form itself. You do not practice to become a great scale player or drill champion. You practice to become a musician or athlete. Likewise, one does not practice meditation to become a great meditator. We meditate to wake up and live, to become skilled at the art of living.
If you're interested in opening the doors to the heavens, start with the door to your own secret self. See what happens when you offer to another a glimpse of who you truly are. When your heart is undefended, you make it safe for whomever you meet to put down his burden of hiding, and then you both can walk through the open door.
Every day we're given a choice: We can relax and float in the direction that the water flows, or we can swim hard against it. If we go with the river, the energy of a thousand mountain streams will be with us . . . if we resist the river, we will feel rankled and tired as we tread water, stuck in the same place.
Grief is an expression that you loved well.
May you listen to the voice within the beat even when you are tired. When you feel yourself breaking down, may you break open instead. May every experience in life be a door that opens your heart, expands your understanding and leads you to freedom.
Lose your temper and you lose the fight.
I learned a long time ago that advice is a quick trip to nowhere. It's the commitment that only you can make in yourself, the responsibility to assume control of yourself.
The day obedience becomes a quest and not an irritation is the day you gain power.
As the arteries grow hard, the heart grows soft.
The demon of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking the blood of genius and of generosity.
When people do not ignore what they should ignore, but ignore what they should not ignore, this is known as ignorance.
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