Sitting in stillness and embracing silence is easier said than done. Meditation is a method for transforming the mind, developing concentration, and becoming tuned into our emotional bodies. With regular practice, the habits and patterns of the mind become clear, and we’re able to cultivate more positive ways of ‘being.’ The following quotes are devoted to inspiring a consistent meditation practice.
1. In the same way that rain breaks into a house with a bad roof, desire breaks into the mind that has not been practicing meditation. — Buddha
2. At the end of the day, I can end up just totally wacky, because I’ve made mountains out of molehills. With meditation, I can keep them as molehills. — Ringo Starr
3. Sleep is the best meditation. — Dalai Lama
4. To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet, still. — Jiddu Krishnamurti
5. Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there. — Deepak Chopra
6. When your attention moves into the Now, there is an alertness. It is as if you were waking up from a dream, the dream of thought, the dream of past and future. Such clarity, such simplicity. No room for problem—making. Just this moment as it is. — Eckhart Tolle
7. Within you is a stillness and a sanctuary that you can retreat to any time and be yourself. — Anonymous
8. Devote the mind to confusion and we know only too well, if we’re honest, that it will become a dark master of confusion, adept in its addictions, subtle and perversely supple in its slaveries. Devote it in meditation to the task of freeing itself from illusion, and we will find that, with time, patience, discipline, and the right training, our mind will begin to unknot itself and know its essential bliss and clarity. — Sogyal Rinphoche
9. Don’t hate the arising of thoughts or stop the thoughts that do arise. Simply realize that our original mind, right from the start, is beyond thought, so that no matter what, you never get involved with thoughts. Illuminate original mind, and no other understanding is necessary. — Zen Master Bankei Yotaku
10. Go within every day and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow your candle out. — Katherine Dunham
11. Your goal is not to battle with the mind, but to witness the mind. — Swami Muktananda
12. Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what’s happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s happening, stories that get in the way of direct experience. Often such stories treat a fleeting state of mind as if it were our entire and permanent self. — Sharon Salzberg
13. Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in eternal awareness or pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity. — Voltaire
14. If we can reach the understanding of what we actually are, there is no better remedy for eliminating all suffering. This is the heart of all spiritual practices. — Kalu Rinpoche
15. Meditation is one of the ways in which the spiritual man keeps himself awake. — Thomas Merton
16. When we raise ourselves through meditation to what unites us with the spirit, we quicken something within us that is eternal and unlimited by birth and death. Once we have experienced this eternal part in us, we can no longer doubt its existence. Meditation is thus the way to knowing and beholding the eternal, indestructible, essential centre of our being. — Rudolf Steiner
17. Meditation is all about the pursuit of nothingness. It’s like the ultimate rest. It’s better than the best sleep you’ve ever had. It’s a quieting of the mind. — Hugh Jackman
18. The quieter you become the more you can hear. — Anonymous
19. The thing about meditation is: You become more and more you. — David Lynch
20. I meditate so that I can inundate my entire being with the omnipotent power of peace. — Sri Chinmoy
21. Touch your inner space, which is nothingness, as silent and empty as the sky; it is your inner sky. Once you settle down in your inner sky, you have come home, and a great maturity arises in your actions, in your behavior. Then whatever you do has grace in it. Then whatever you do is a poetry in itself. You live poetry; your walking becomes dancing, your silence becomes music. — Osho
22. Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak. — Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati
23. The soul loves to meditate, for in contact with the spirit lies its greatest joy. — Paramhamsa Yogananda
24. Meditation is the secret of all growth in spiritual life and knowledge. — James Allen
25. Meditation will not carry you to another world, but it will reveal the most profound and awesome dimensions of the world in which you already live. Calmly contemplating these dimensions and bringing them into the service of compassion and kindness is the right way to make rapid gains in meditation as well as in life. — Zen Master Hsing Yun
26. Meditation is a process of lightening up, of trusting the basic goodness of what we have and who we are, and of realizing that any wisdom that exists, exists in what we already have. We can lead our life so as to become more awake to who we are and what we’re doing rather than trying to improve or change or get rid of who we are or what we’re doing. The key is to wake up, to become more alert, more inquisitive and curious about ourselves. — Pema Chodron
27. To a mind that is still. The whole universe surrenders. — Anonymous
28. Meditation should not be regarded as a learning process. It should be regarded as an experiencing process. You should not try to learn from meditation but try to feel it. Meditation is an act of nonduality. The technique you are using should not be separate from you; it is you, you are the technique. Meditator and meditation are one. There is no relationship involved. — Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
29. Meditation is not to escape from society but to come back to ourselves and see what is going on. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. With mindfulness, we know what to do and what not to do to help. — Thich Nhat Hanh
30. The goal of meditation isn’t to control your thoughts, it’s to stop letting them control you. — Anonymous
31. Meditation speeds up the evolutionary process by gradually purifying negative tendencies. — Master Choa Kok Su
32. The goal of meditation is not to get rid of thoughts or emotions. The goal is to become more aware of your thoughts and emotions and learn how to move through them without getting stuck. — Dr. P. Goldin
33. Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom. — Buddha
34. Meditation is a silent heart, a peaceful mind which can make life more lovable, more livable. — Anonymous
35. The things that trouble our spirits are within us already. In meditation, we must face them, accept them, and set them aside one by one. — Christopher L. Bennett
36. The body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness. — Sakyong Mipham
37. Meditation is like giving a hug to ourselves, getting in touch with that awesome reality in us. while meditating we feel a deep sense of intimacy with God, a love that is inexplicable. — Paramhamsa Yogananda
38. The mind that is alone is not only innocent but young—not in time or age, but young, innocent, alive at whatever age—and only such a mind can see that which is truth and that which is not measurable by words. — Jiddu Krishnamurti
39. Be still and know yourself as the Truth you have been searching for. Be still and let the inherent joy of that Truth capture your drama and destroy it in the bliss of consummation. Be still and let your life be lived by the purpose you were made for. Be still and receive the inherent truth of your heart. — Gangaji
40. We try many ways to be awake, but our society still keeps us forgetful. Meditation is to help us remember. — Thich Nhat Hanh
41. Meditation will bring you more and more intelligence, infinite intelligence, a radiant intelligence. Meditation will make you more alive and sensitive; your life will become richer. — Osho
42. If we can make just 1% of the population meditative, this world will be a different place. — Sadhguru
43. All that is necessary to awaken to yourself as the radiant emptiness of spirit is to stop seeking something more or better or different, and to turn your attention inward to the awake silence that you are. — Adyashanti
44. Meditation is like a gym in which you develop the powerful mental muscles of calm and insight. — Ajahn Brahm
45. The greatest help to spiritual life is meditation. In meditation we divest ourselves of all material conditions and feel our divine nature. We do not depend upon any external help in meditation. — Swami Vivekananda
46. Meditate. Let the light of the heart engulf you. — Chidvilasananda
47. Only in my deep meditation do I come to know who I truly am. — Sri Chinmoy
48. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt. — Sr. Francis de Sales
49. Give the child a taste of meditation by creating a climate and atmosphere of love, acceptance and silence. — Swami Dhyan Giten
50. Meditation is another dimension of natural beauty. People talk about appreciating natural beauty—climbing mountains, seeing giraffes and tigers in Africa, and all sorts of things. But nobody seems to appreciate this kind of natural beauty of ourselves. This is actually far more beautiful than flora and fauna, far more fantastic, far more painful and colorful and delightful. — Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
51. When you have achieved a state of deep meditation, you unlock the door to your subconscious mind. That is where the power to create the life you desire lies. — Adrian Calabrese
52. Meditation means the recognition or the discovery of one’s own true self. — Sri Chinmoy
53. Meditation is meeting eternity in the present moment. It is resolving every problem as it comes. It is resolving every tension as it creeps in. It is facing the challenges of life in a non—fearful way. — Vimala Thakar
54. Meditation is being in tune with our inner energy source. — Anonymous
55. Meditation and concentration are the way to a life of serenity. — Baba Ram Dass
56. The more regularly and the more deeply you meditate, the sooner you will find yourself acting always from a center of peace. — J. Donald Walters
57. Meditation is the tongue of the soul and the language of our spirit. — Anonymous
58. Meditation is a vital way to purify and quiet the mind, thus rejuvenating the body. — Deepak Chopra
59. Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor. — Thich Nhat Hahn
60. Clarity is part of the mind from the beginning, a natural awareness. Just acknowledge it, simply notice that you’re aware. At any given moment, you can choose to follow the chain of thoughts, emotions, and sensations that reinforce a perception of yourself as vulnerable and limited or to remember that your true nature is pure, unconditioned, and incapable of being harmed. — Mingyur Rinpoche
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