“To my mind, the idea that doing dishes is unpleasant can occur only when you aren’t doing them… If I am incapable of washing dishes joyfully, if I want to finish the quickly so I can go and have dessert or a cup of tea, I will be equally incapable of enjoying my dessert or my tea when I finally have them… Each thought, each action in the sunlight of awareness becomes sacred. In this light, no boundary exists between the sacred and the profane.”
Thich Nhat Hanh, via Think Like A Monk (Page 135)
“A lot of the time, creativity comes from structure. When you have those parameters and structure, then within that you can be creative. If you don’t have structure, you’re just aimlessly doing stuff.”
Kobe Bryant, via Think Like A Monk (Page 132)
“In the ashram we took the same thirty-minute walk on the same path at least once a day. Every day the monk asked us to keep our eyes open for something different, something we’d never before seen on this walk that we had taken yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. Spotting something new every day on our familiar walk was a reminder to keep our focus on that walk, to see the freshness in each ‘routine,’ to be aware. Seeing something is not the same as noticing it.”
Jay Shetty, Think Like A Monk (Page 132)
“Every morning make some time for: (1) Thankfulness. Express gratitude to someone, some place, or something every day. This includes thinking it, writing it, and sharing it. (2) Insight. Gain insight through reading the paper or a book, or listening to a podcast. (3) Meditation. Spend fifteen minutes alone, breathing, visualizing or with sound. (4) Exercise. We monks did yoga, but you can do some basic stretches or a workout. Thankfulness. Insight. Meditation. Exercise. T.I.M.E. A new way to put time into your morning.”
Jay Shetty, Think Like A Monk (Page 128)
“We tend to wear our ability to get by on little sleep as some sort of badge of honor that validates our work ethic. But what it is is a profound failure of self-respect and of priorities.”
Maria Popova, via Think Like A Monk (Page 125)
“…I learned the one infallible trick to successfully getting up earlier: I had to go to sleep earlier. That was it. I’d spent my entire life pushing the limits of each day, sacrificing tomorrow because I didn’t want to miss out on today. But once I finally let that go and started going to sleep earlier, waking up at four became easier and easier. And as it became easier, I found that I could do it without the help of anyone or anything besides my own body and the natural world around it.”
Jay Shetty, Think Like A Monk (Page 124)
“Dharma isn’t just passion and skills. Dharma is passion in the service of others. your passion is for you. Your purpose is for others. Your passion becomes a purpose when you use it to serve others. Your dharma has to fill a need in the world.”
Jay Shetty, Think Like A Monk (Page 122)
“It is trust in the limits of the self that makes us open and it is trust in the gifts of others that makes us secure. We come to realize that we don’t have to do everything, that we can’t do everything, that what I can’t do is someone else’s gift and responsibility… My limitations makes space for the gifts of other people.”
Sister Joan Chittister, via Think Like A Monk (Page 100)
“It’s better to do one’s own dharma imperfectly than to do another’s perfectly.”
Jay Shetty, Think Like A Monk (Page 99)
“Love is very delicate, fragile. If you look at it, gaze at it directly, it will disappear. It comes only when you are unaware, doing something else. You cannot go directly, arrowlike. Love is not a target. It is a very subtle phenomenon; it is very shy. If you go directly, it will hide. If you do something directly, you will miss it. The world has become very stupid about love. They want it immediately. They want it like instant coffee—whenever you want it, order it, and it is there. Love is a delicate art; it is nothing you can do. It always takes you unaware.”
Osho, Everyday Osho (Page 75)
“A monk is a traveler, but the journey is inward, bringing us ever closer to our most authentic, confident, powerful self. There is no need to embark on an actual Year-in Provence-type quest to find your passion and purpose, as if it’s a treasure buried in some distant land, waiting to be discovered. Your dharma is already with you. It’s always been with you. It’s woven into your being. If we keep our minds open ad curious, our dharmas announce themselves.”
Jay Shetty, Think Like A Monk (Page 98)
“You can’t be anything you want. But you can be everything you are.”
Jay Shetty, Think Like A Monk (Page 98)
“Every heart has love, because the heart cannot exist without it. It is the very pulse of life. Nobody can be without love; that is impossible. It is a basic truth that everyone has love, has the capacity to love and to be loved. But some rocks—wrong upbringing, wrong attitudes, cleverness, cunningness, and a thousand and one things—are blocking the path. Withdraw unloving acts, unloving words, unloving gestures, and then suddenly you will catch yourself in a very loving mood. Many moments will come when suddenly you will see that something is bubbling—and there was love, just a glimpse. And by and by those moments will become longer.”
Osho, Everyday Osho (Page 74)
“If we’re only excited when people say nice things about our work, it’s a sign that we’re not passionate about the work itself. And if we indulge our interests and skills, but nobody responds to them, then our passion is without purpose. If either piece is missing, we’re not living our dharma.”
Jay Shetty, Think Like A Monk (Page 97)
“Satisfaction comes from believing in the value of what you do.”
Jay Shetty, Think Like A Monk (Page 81)
“Everything you do in the day from washing to eating breakfast, having meetings, driving to work… watching television or deciding instead to read… everything you do is your spiritual life. It is only a matter of how consciously you do these ordinary things…”
Laurence Freeman, via Think Like A Monk (Page 77)
“Happiness and fulfillment come only from mastering the mind and connecting with the soul–not from objects or attainments. Success doesn’t guarantee happiness, and happiness doesn’t require success. They can feed each other, and we can have them at the same time, but they are not intertwined.”
Jay Shetty, Think Like A Monk (Page 69)
“Every lover feels that something is missing, because love is unfinished. It is a process, not a thing. Every lover is bound to feel that something is missing. Don’t interpret this wrongly. It simply shows that love in itself is dynamic.”
Osho, Everyday Osho (Page 72)
“If you take a long, hard look at your romantic relationships that have ended in fire, you will very likely notice they began with a considerable bit of smoke. When we’re young and dumb, we believe that love is like a fairytale. We believe that we can be the one that finally helps her shake her ex. We believe that we can be the one that helps him conquer his Vicodin addiction. We believe that love can begin badly and then somehow miraculously make a comeback in the 4th quarter. But, love doesn’t work this way. The love that is good in the end, starts out good in the beginning; and the love that is bad in end, started out bad in the beginning.”
Cole Schafer