"These values are very basic to me, and to my friends. They’re, in the Buddhist sense, rooted in the belly; and this is where the breath starts, so where the poem starts. I think these concerns are basic to everyone, but most don’t think about them, aren’t aware of them. They buy vegetables in the supermarket, but don’t think about the soil these grow in; they keep pets, but don’t look into the animal’s eyes and see an intelligence there, a sensibility; they are driven into solitude, into their own personality, by the stresses of our culture, but don’t look for new strength there. At that point “initiation and rebirth” is possible outside a religious structure. Everybody wants to know the ecstasy of the dance."

- Gary Snyder in a 1964 interview (via hand-me-downs-et-cetera)

rockhardabs:

poortaste:

How Meditation Works

Meditation Expert Light Watkins demonstrates how meditation reduces stress levels in the body using a Rubik’s Cube.

Brilliant.

"The silence behind your thoughts is the harmony of the Universe."

- (via infinity-imagined)

powerprof:

“While many people say multitasking makes them more productive, research shows otherwise. Heavy multitaskers actually have more trouble focusing and shutting out irrelevant information, scientists say, and they experience more stress … And scientists are discovering that even after the multitasking ends, fractured thinking and lack of focus persist. In other words, this is also your brain off computers.” So meditation is to the brain what sleep is to the body. 

Working with the Inner Critic

Mark Coleman, Spirit Rock Meditation Center

(One of my favorite talks about mindfulness and meditation.)

Mark Coleman

One minute meditation on mindfulness

"A young monk came to live in the monastery where Ajahn Chah was practicing. The people who lived in the town outside the monastery were holding a series of festivals in which they sang and danced all night long. When the monks would rise at three thirty in the morning to begin their meditation, the parties from the night before would still be going strong. At last, one morning the young monk cried out to Ajahn Chah, ‘Venerable One, the noise is interrupting my practice — I can’t meditate with all this noise!; ‘The noise isn’t bothering you,’ Ajahn responded. ‘You are bothering the noise.’"

Poetry and Beauty

Jack Kornfield, Spirit Rock Meditation Center

"If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. You begin to refuse sounds that are not musical and that way cut yourself off from a good deal of experience."

- John Cage

"Wonderful it is to train the mind,
so swiftly moving, seizing whatever it wants.
Good is it to have a well-trained mind,
for a well-trained mind brings happiness."

- Dhammapada 3.35 (via ageofreason)

"A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts. So he loses touch with reality, and lives in a world of illusions."

- Shunryu Suzuki

Neuroscientist and mindfulness teacher Rick Hanson leads an introduction to meditation at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.