The spiritual journey involves going beyond hope and fear, stepping into unknown territory, continually moving forward. The most important aspect of being on the spiritual path may be just to keep moving.
Pema ChodronRead
Meditation is not a matter of trying to achieve ecstasy, spiritual bliss, or tranquillity, nor is it attempting to become a better person. It is simply the creation of a space in which we are able to expose and undo our neurotic games, our self-deceptions, our hidden fears and hopes.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Meditation is about self-awareness rather than trying to reach a higher state of being.
This quote by Pema Chodron emphasizes that meditation should not be viewed as a means to attain bliss or spiritual perfection. Rather, it is a practice aimed at creating an inner space where one can confront and understand their psychological patterns, fears, and aspirations, ultimately leading to greater self-awareness and authenticity.
Themes
MeditationSelf-AwarenessNeuroticismSelf-DeceptionInner Peace
In practice
Example use cases
Sharing this quote during a mindfulness workshop to emphasize the true purpose of meditation.
More from Pema Chodron
All quotes →Without giving up hope—that there’s somewhere better to be, that there’s someone better to be—we will never relax with where we are or who we are.
Pema ChodronRead
When we scratch the wound and give into our addictions we do not allow the wound to heal.
Pema ChodronRead
It's said that when we die, the four elements - earth, air, fire and water - dissolve one by one, each into the other, and finally just dissolve into space. But while we're living, we share the energy that makes everything, from a blade of grass to an elephant, grow and live and then inevitably wear out and die. This energy, this life force, creates the whole world.
Pema ChodronRead
Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That’s the ground, that’s what we study, that’s what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest.
Pema ChodronRead
We have two alternatives: either we question our beliefs - or we don't. Either we accept our fixed versions of reality- or we begin to challenge them. In Buddha's opinion, to train in staying open and curious - to train in dissolving our assumptions and beliefs - is the best use of our human lives.
Pema ChodronRead
Similar quotes
I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born.
Henry David ThoreauRead
I feel like you get more bees with honey. But that doesn't mean I don't get frustrated in my life. My way of dealing with frustration is to shut down and to think and speak logically.
Beyonce KnowlesRead
Expect much from yourself and little from others and you will avoid incurring resentments
ConfuciusRead
Come, live with the doors of the senses guarded, diligent and mindful, vigilant and mindful, with the ways of the mind well watched, possessed of a mind that is awake and observing.
Gautama BuddhaRead
There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness. One With Life.
Eckhart TolleRead
As any action or posture, long continued, will distort and disfigure the limbs, so the mind likewise is crippled and contracted by perpetual application to the same set of ideas.
Samuel JohnsonRead