Meditation is like the breeze that comes in when you leave the window open; but if you deliberately keep it open, deliberately invite it to come, it will never appear.
Interpretation
Meditation requires openness and invitation, but forcing it can prevent its natural occurrence.
In this quote, Jiddu Krishnamurti suggests that meditation is a naturally soothing experience, akin to a gentle breeze that brings tranquility. However, he emphasizes that if one attempts to control or force the process of meditation, just as one might force the breeze to come in, it can elude us. The quote encourages a balance of openness and receptivity, promoting a more effortless and organic approach to achieving a meditative state.
In practice
During a mindfulness workshop, I shared this quote to emphasize the importance of being open during meditation.
The following of authority is the denial of intelligence. [It] may help us temporarily to cover up our difficulties and problems; but to avoid a problem is only to intensify it, and in the process, self-knowledge and freedom are abandoned.
In seeking comfort, we generally find a quiet corner in life where there is a minimum of conflict, and then we are afraid to step out of that seclusion.
If you listen through the screen of your desires, then you obviously listen to your own voice; you are listening to your own desires.
If you have this extraordinary thing going in your life, then it is everything; then you become the teacher, the disciple, the neighbour, the beauty of the cloud - you are all that, and that is love.
Meditation is one of the greatest arts in life - perhaps the greatest, and one cannot possibly learn it from anybody, that is the beauty of it.
All of us have been trained by education and environment to seek personal gain and security and to fight for ourselves. Though we cover it over with pleasant phrases, we have been educated for various professions within a system which is based on exploitation and acquisitive fear.
Whatever the job you are asked to do at whatever level, do a good job because your reputation is your resume.
My favorite definition of the mindful path is the one the reveals itself as you walk down it. You cannot find the path until you step on to it.
Iβm not going to censor myself to comfort your ignorance
Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.
So, my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this. When faced with sexism, or ageism, or lookism, or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: βIs this person in between me and what I want to do?β If the answer is no, ignore it and move on. Your energy is better used doing your work and outpacing people that way. Then, when youβre in charge, donβt hire the people who were jerky to you.
I know of no case where a man added to his dignity by standing on it.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.