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Quotes about Being Present Minded

Leo Babauta Quote on Practicing Mindfulness By Giving Your Actions Weight

    “Practice this. Every action you take today, no matter how little… give it weight. Put some space around it. Start it intentionally, with the intention to be mindful, to inhabit that action fully, to notice with all of your senses the entire moment. When the action is done, don’t just rush to the next one, but take half a second to appreciate what you just experienced. Then move to the next with equal weight and space. If you don’t start treating this next action like it’s just as important as what’s coming later, you might never.”

    Leo Babauta

    Beyond the Quote (24/365)

    So many things in life lose their weight when you learn to redistribute that weight to the present moment.  What gives different thoughts, feelings, and situations in your life weight?  Your mind.  When you feel really drawn down and heavy from tough emotional situations, it’s because your mind is giving those tough emotional thoughts all of its weight.

    Read More »Leo Babauta Quote on Practicing Mindfulness By Giving Your Actions Weight

      “Most human relationships consist mainly of minds interacting with each other, not of human beings communicating, being in communion.  No relationship can thrive in that way, and that is why there is so much conflict in relationships.  When the mind is running your life, conflict, strife, and problems are inevitable.  Being in touch with your inner body creates a clear space of no-mind within which the relationship can flower.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 127)

        “Your life’s journey has an outer purpose and an inner purpose.  The outer purpose is to arrive at your goal or destination, to accomplish what you set out to do, to achieve this or that, which, of course, implies future.  But if your destination, or the steps you are going to take in the future, take up so much of your attention that they become more important to you than the step you are taking now, then you completely miss the journey’s inner purpose, which has nothing to do with where you are going or what you are doing, but everything to do with how.  It has nothing to do with future but everything to do with the quality of your consciousness at this moment.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 88)

          “There is nothing wrong with striving to improve your life situation.  You can improve your life situation, but you cannot improve your life.  Life is primary.  Life is your deepest inner Being.  It is already whole, complete, perfect.  Your life situation consists of your circumstances and your experiences.  There is nothing wrong with setting goals and striving to achieve things.  The mistake lies in using it as a substitute for the feeling of life, for Being.  The only point of access for that is the Now.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 86)

            “Are you stressed?  Are you so busy getting to the future that the present is reduced to a means of getting there?  Stress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there,’ or being in the present but wanting to be in the future.  It’s a split that tears you apart inside.  To create and live with such an inner split is insane.  The fact that everyone else is doing it doesn’t make it any less insane.  If you have to, you can move fast, work fast, or even run, without projecting yourself into the future and without resisting the present.  As you move, work, run — do it totally.  Enjoy the flow of energy, the high energy of that moment.  Now you are no longer stressed, no longer splitting yourself in two.  Just moving, running, working—and enjoying it.  Or you can drop the whole thing and sit on a park bench.  But when you do, watch your mind.  It may say: ‘You should be working.  You are wasting time.’ Observe the mind.  Smile at it.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 84)

              “Are you resisting your here and now?  Some people would always rather be somewhere else.  Their ‘here’ is never good enough.  Through self-observation, find out if that is the case in your life.  Wherever you are, be there totally.  If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally.  If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must choose now.  Then accept the consequences.  No excuses.  No negativity.  No psychic pollution.  Keep your inner space clear.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 82)

                “Usually, the future is a replica of the past.  Superficial changes are possible, but real transformation is rare and depends upon whether you can become present enough to dissolve the past by accessing the power of the Now.  What you perceive as future is an intrinsic part of your state of consciousness now.  If your mind carries a heavy burden of past, you will experience more of the same.  The past perpetuates itself through lack of presence.  The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future—which, of course, can only be experienced as the Now.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 60)

                  “If you no longer want to create pain for yourself and others, if you no longer want to add to the residue of past pain that still lives on in you, then don’t create any more time, or at least no more than is necessary to deal with the practical aspects of your life.  How to stop creating time?  Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.  Make the Now the primary focus of your life.  Whereas before you dwelt in time and paid brief visits to the Now, have your dwelling place in the Now and pay brief visits to past and future when required to deal with the practical aspects of your life situation.  Always say ‘yes’ to the present moment.  What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to something that already is?  What could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now?  Surrender to what is.  Say ‘yes’ to life—and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 35)

                    “Glimpses of love and joy or brief moments of deep peace are possible whenever a gap occurs in the stream of thought.  For most people, such gaps happen rarely and only accidentally, in moments when the mind is rendered ‘speechless,’ sometimes triggered by great beauty, extreme physical exertion, or even great danger.  Suddenly, there is inner stillness.  And within that stillness there is a subtle but intense joy, there is love, there is peace.” ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now (Page 29)

                    The Power of Now [Book]

                      The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle

                      By: Eckhart Tolle

                      From this Book: 50 Quotes

                      Book Overview: To make the journey into The Power of Now you need to leave your analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. Access to the Now is everywhere – in the body, the silence, and the space all around you. These are the keys to enter a state of inner peace. They can be used to bring you into the Now, the present moment, where problems do not exist. It is here you find your joy and are able to embrace your true self. It is here you discover that you are already complete and perfect.  Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart Tolle offers simple language in a question and answer format. The words themselves are the signposts to guide you on your journey. There are new discoveries to be made along the way: you are not your mind, you can find your way out of psychological pain, authentic human power is found by surrendering to the Now. When you become fully present and accepting of what is, you open yourself to the transforming experience of The Power of Now.

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                      Post(s) Inspired by this Book:

                        “Happiness to me is what’s happening now. Not the next world; it’s not the dance you’re going to tonight.  If you’re not happy at the present time, then you’re not happy.  Some people say, I get that new fur coat for the winter, or get myself a new automobile, I’ll be happy then.  But you don’t know what’s going to happen by that time.  Right now are you happy?  Like me.  I have health problems, but it’s been going on a long time, so it’s secondary.” ~ Fred Jones, via Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 29)

                          “When I asked him what was the happiest period of his life, he did not hesitate.  ‘Right now,’ he said.” ~ John Leland, Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 8)

                            “We have to live with peace and joy right away and not wait for the future to do it.  We have to be well right now, right here, peaceful and joyful in the present moment.  There is no way to happiness—happiness is the way.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear

                              “We run during the daytime and we run during our sleep.  We do not know how to stop.  Our practice is first of all to stop, then to relax, to calm down and to concentrate.  When we can do this, then we are in the here and now.  Then we become solid.  And when we are solid, we can look around.  We can look deeply into the present moment, we can look deeply into our true nature, and we can discover the ultimate dimension.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear

                                “In our daily life, we tend to believe that happiness is only possible in the future.  We are always looking for better things, the right conditions to make us happy.  We run away from what is happening right in front of us.  We try to find things that make us feel more solid, more safe and secure.  But we are afraid all the time of what the future will bring.  We are afraid we’ll lose our jobs, our possessions, the people around us whom we love.  So we wait for the magical moment—sometime in the future—when everything will be as we like, as we want it to be.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear

                                  “Happiness arrives from many directions.  If you have a notion that it comes only from one direction, you will miss all of these other opportunities because you want happiness to come only from the direction you want.  You say, ‘I would rather die than marry anyone but her.  I would rather die than lose my job, my reputation.  I cannot be happy if I don’t get that degree or that promotion or that house.’  You have put many conditions on your happiness.  And then, even if you do have all your conditions met, you still won’t be happy.  You will just keep creating new conditions for your happiness.  You will still want the higher degree, the better job and the more beautiful house.  Please remember that your notions of happiness may be very dangerous.  The Buddha said happiness can only be possible in the here and now. ” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear