Think Like A Monk: Train Your Mind For Peace And Purpose Every Day Quotes
"It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection." —Bhagavad Gita 3.35
"I am not what I think I am, and I am not what you think I am. I am what I think you think I am." —Charles Horton Cooley
"When you try to live your most authentic life, some of your relationships will be put in jeopardy. Losing them is a risk worth bearing; finding a way to keep them in your life is a challenge worth taking on."
"Your identity is a mirror covered with dust. When you first look in the mirror, the truth of who you are and what you value is obscured. Clearing it may not be pleasant, but only when that dust is gone can you see your true reflection." —Gauranga Das
"Fear does not prevent death. It prevents life." —Buddha
"There is no commandment that says we have to be upset by the way other people treat us. The reason we are upset is because we have an emotional program that says, ‘If someone is nasty to me, I cannot be happy or feel good about myself.’" —Father Thomas Keating
"The grass is greener where you water it." —Neil Barringham
"If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito." —Dalai Lama
"It is not possible to control all external events; but if I simply control my mind, what need is there to control other things?" —Śāntideva
"Detaching from your fears allows you to address them."
"Our fears are more numerous than our dangers, and we suffer more in our imagination than reality." - Seneca
"A simple, powerful tool to short-circuit the panic response is always with us: our breath."
"Our life isn't a collection of unrelated events, it's a narrative that stretches into the past and future."
"When the fear of staying the same outweighs the fear of change, that is when we change."
"What you run from only stays with you longer." - Chuck Palahniuk
"You can’t be anything you want. But you can be everything you are."
"Now, I came to this idea of bliss because in Sanskrit, which is the great spiritual language of the world, there are three terms that represent the brink, the jumping-off place to the ocean of transcendence: Sat, Chit, Ananda. The word ‘Sat’ means being. ‘Chit’ means consciousness. ‘Ananda’ means bliss or rapture."
"If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else."
"Protective instincts hold us back or steer us toward practical decisions, but we can see past them and follow our dharma if we know what to look for."
"Alive. For some people, being in their dharma means they feel a calm, confident satisfaction. For others, there is a thrill of joy and excitement."
"Flow. In dharma, there is a natural momentum. You feel like you’re in your lane, swimming with the current, instead of struggling through a resistant surf."
"Comfort. In your dharma, you don’t feel alone or out of place, no matter who comes or goes or where you are physically."
"Consistency. Being in your dharma bears repeating. In fact, it gets better the more you do it."
"Positivity and growth. When we’re aware of our own strengths, we’re more confident, we value others’ abilities more, and we feel less competitive."
"Dharma brings you stability and peace. When we have the confidence to know where we thrive, we find opportunities to demonstrate that."
"Your dharma has to fill a need in the world. Your passion becomes a purpose when you use it to serve others."
"Often, in the emptiness, I repeat to myself 'make your mind your friend,' and I imagine that my mind and I are at a networking event."
"Fasting and the other austerities that monks practice remind us that we can bear greater hardship than we thought possible."
"You don’t have to take vows or eat pine needles to explore your limits."
"All of the ways we’ve already talked about training the mind involve detaching."
"Think of austerities as a detachment boot camp."
"The only way to escape the cold was to go inward."
"Spot the attachment. When do you experience it?"
"Once you have diagnosed the attachment, the next step is to stop and rethink it."
"Decide how you want to spend your newfound time."
"Once the initial pangs of desire abate, you’ll begin to feel the benefits of detachment."
"The body is a vessel. It contains us, so it’s important."
"We wake up with morning breath, smelly, tired."
"If you ruminate on sadness and negativity, it will reinforce a sense of sadness and negativity."
"Our efforts are the same—visualization creates real changes in our bodies."
"Appreciate everything, even the ordinary. Especially the ordinary."
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens."
"When you’re present in gratitude, you can’t be anywhere else."
"Gratitude is how we transform what Zen master Roshi Joan Halifax calls 'the mind of poverty.'"
"You shouldn’t feel small compared to others, but you should feel small compared to your goals."
"Real greatness is when you use your own achievements to teach others."
"Whenever you give out any energy—love, hate, anger, kindness—you will always get it back."
"Love is like a circle. Whatever love you give out, it always comes back to you."
"Our lack of gratitude is what makes us feel unloved."
"We have peers for friendship, students to teach, and mentors to learn from and serve."
"Trust means we believe that the person is being honest with us, that they have our interests at heart."
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion."
"Giving simply because it is right to give, without thought of return, at a proper time, in proper circumstances, and to a worthy person, is sattvic giving."
"The highest purpose is to live in service."
"Selflessness is the surest route to inner peace and a meaningful life."
"Service is always the answer. It fixes a bad day. It tempers the burdens we bear."