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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Unacknowledged parts of ourselves can lead to negative emotions and behaviors.
In this quote, Mark Epstein suggests that when we do not accept and integrate certain aspects of ourselves—whether they be emotions, traits, or experiences—we create fertile ground for negative feelings like greed, hatred, and delusion to manifest. This highlights the importance of self-acceptance and the potential consequences when we fail to confront our inner complexities.
Themes
Self-AcceptanceEmotionsGreedHatredDelusion
In practice
Example use cases
During a workshop on personal growth, to emphasize the need for emotional integration.
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.
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.
Mark EpsteinRead
It is exceedingly difficult to maintain a sense of absence without turning that absence into some kind of presence
Mark EpsteinRead
It’s one of my theories that when people give you advice, they’re really just talking to themselves in the past.
Mark EpsteinRead
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.
Mark EpsteinRead
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