Our minds are all we have and they are all we can offer others

Every experience you have ever had has been shaped by your mind. Every relationship is as good or as bad as it is because of the minds involved

Everything we want to accomplish is something that promises that, if done, it would allow us to finally relax and enjoy our lives in the present

Each of us is looking for a path back to the present: We are trying to find good enough reasons to be satisfied now

How we pay attention to the present moment largely determines the character of our experience and, therefore, the quality of our lives

Love is a state of being

Our conventional sense of self is an illusion and the way we think directly influences our experience of the world

The feeling that we call 'I' is an illusion

Deepening that understanding, and repeatedly cutting through the illusion of the self, is what is meant by 'Spirituality' in the context of this book

Confusion and suffering may be our birthright, but wisdom and happiness are available. The landscape of human experience includes deeply transformative insights about the nature of one's ownn consciousness

The human mind does contain vast expanses that few of us ever discover

It is possible to stand free of the juggernaut of self, if only for moments at a time

Happiness is elusive. We seek pleasant sights, sounds, tastes, sensations, and moods. But our pleasures are, by their very nature, fleeting

The effort required to keep boredom and other unpleasantness at bay must continue, moment to moment

Ceaseless change is an unreliable basis for lasting fulfillment

There is an alternative to being continuously spellbound by the conversation we are having with ourselves; there is an alternative to simply identifying with the next thought that pops into consciousness. And glimpsing this alternative dispels the conventional illusion of the self

Most of us are far wiser than we may appear to be. We know how to keep our relationship in order, to use our time well, to improve our health, to lose weight, to learn valuable skills, and to solve many other riddles of existence. But following even the straight and open path to happiness is hard. If your best friend were to ask how she could live a better life, you would probably find many useful things to say, and yet you might not live that way yourself. On one level, wisdom is nothing more profound than an ability to follow one's own advice

The problem of finding happiness in this world arrives with our first breath—and our needs and desires seem to multiply by the hour. To spend any time in the presence of a young child is to witness a mind ceaselessly buffeted by joy and sorrow

Seeking, finding, maintaining, and safeguarding our well-being is the great project to which we all are devoted, whether or not we choose to think in these terms. This is not to say that we want mere pleasure or the easiest possible life. Many things require extraordinary effort to accomplish, and some of us learn to enjoy the struggle

The way we think about experience can completely determine how we feel about it

Whatever the context, our minds are perpetually moving toward pleasure and away from pain

Our struggle to navigate the space of possible pains and pleasures produces most of human culture

Beyond ensuring our survival, civilization is a vast machine invented by the human mind to regulate its states. We are ever in the process of creating and repairing a world that our minds want to be in

Wrong answers to any problem outnumber right ones by a wide margin, and it seems that it will always be easier to break things than to fix them

Despite the beauty of our world and the scope of human accomplishment, it is hard not to worry that the forces of chaos will triumph—not merely in the end but in every moment. Our pleasures are by their very nature fleeting. They begin to subside the instant they arise, only to be replaced by fresh desires or feelings of discomfort

We seem to do little more than lurch between wanting and not wanting

A true spiritual practitioner is someone who has discovered that it is possible to be at ease in the world for no reason, if only for a few moments at a time, and that such ease is synonymous with transcending the apparent boundaries of the self

Any view of consciousness and the cosmos that is available to the human mind can be appreciated by anyone

Human cognition and emotion run deeper than religion

Engaging in faith-based practice isn't the same as investigating the nature of one's mind absent any doctrinal assumptions

One can spend long periods of time and contemplative solitude for the purpose of becoming a better person in the world—having better relationships, being more honest and compassionate and, therefore, more helpful to one’s fellow human beings. Being wisely selfish and being selfless can amount to very much the same thing

There is now a little question that how one uses ones attention, moment to moment, largely determines what kind of person one becomes. Our minds – and lives – I was largely shaped by how we use them

Spiritual life consists in overcoming the illusion of the self but paying close attention to our experience in the present moment

There is nothing one need believe

Children need to become autonomous, confident, and self-aware in order to form healthy relationships. And they must acquire a host of other cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal skills in the process of becoming soon and productive adults

It is always now

The reality of your life is always now

We managed to avoid being happy was struggling to become happy, for filling one desire after the next, banishing our fears, grass been a pleasure, recoiling from pain – and thinking, interminably, about how best to keep the whole works up and running. As a consequence, we spend our lives been far less content to me might otherwise be. We often fail to appreciate what we have until we have lost it. We crave experiences, objects, relationships, only to grow bored with them. And yet the craving persists.

Mindfulness is simply a state of clear, nonjudgmental, and I’m distracted attention to the contents of consciousness, what a pleasant or unpleasant.

The Buddha described the four foundations of mindfulness, which he taught as “the direct path for the purification of beings, for this some surmounting of sorrow and lamination, for the disappearance of pain and grief, for the attainment of the true way, for the realization of Nirvana.” The four foundations of mindfulness are the body (breathing, changes in posture, activities), feeling (the senses of pleasantness, unpleasantness, and neutrality), the mind (in particular, its mood and attitudes), and the objects of mind (which include the five senses but also other mental states, such as volition, tranquility, rapture, equanimity, and even mindfulness itself)

The meditator is merely instructed to pay attention, 'ardently' and 'fully aware' and 'free from covetousness and grief for the world'

There is nothing passive about mindfulness. It expresses a specific kind of passion—a passion for discerning what is subjectively real in every moment. It is a mode of cognition that is, above all, undistracted, accepting, and nonconceptual. Being mindful is not a matter of thinking more clearly about experience; it is the act of experiencing more clearly, including the arising of thoughts themselves. Mindfulness is a vivid awareness of whatever is appearing in one's mind or body—thoughts, sensations, moods—without grasping at the pleasant or recoiling from the unpleasant

It does not require us to adopt any cultural affectations or unjustified beliefs. It simply demands that we pay close attention to the flow of experience in each moment

The principal enemy of mindfulness—or of any meditative practice—is our deeply cconditioned habit of being distracted by thoughts. The problem is not thoughts themselves but the state of thinking without knowing that we are thinking

By practicing mindfulness, however, one can awaken from the dream of discursive thought and begin to see each arising image, idea, or bit of language vanish without a trace. What remains is consciousness itself, with its attendant sights, sounds, sensations, and thoughts appearing and changing in every moment

It takes some training to distinguish between being lost in thought and seeing thoughts for what they are

With practice, mindfulness becomes a well-formed habit of attention, and the difference between it and ordinary thinking will become increasingly clear

Most of us spend every waking moment lost in the movie of our lives. Until we see that an alternative to this enchantment exists, we are entirely at the mercy of appearances. Again, the difference I am describing is not a matter of achieving a new conceptual understanding or of adopting new beliefs about the nature of reality. The change comes when we experience the present moment prior to the arising thought

The Buddha taught mindfulness as the appropriate response to the truth of suffering

Suffering may not be inherent in life, but unsatisfactoriness is. We crave lasting happiness in the midst of change

Our attachment to the good things in life and our aversion to the bad amount to a denial of these realities, and this inevitably leads to feelings of dissatisfaction. Mindfulness is a technique for achieving equanimity amid the flux, allowing us to simply be aware of the quality of experience in each moment, whether pleasant or unpleasant. It is actually possible to be mindful—and, therefore, to be at peace with the present moment—even while working to change the world for the better

Practice is the only thing that will lead to success

The problem is not thoughts themselves but the state of thinking without being fully aware that we are thinking

Distraction is the normal condition of our minds: Most of us topple from the wire every second—whether gliding happily into reverie or plunging into fear, anger, self-hatred, and other negative states of mind. Meditation is a technique for waking up. The goal is to come out of the trance of discursive thinking and to stop reflexively grasping at the pleasant and recoiling from the unpleasant, so that we can enjoy a mind undisturbed by worry, merely open like the sky, and effortlessly aware of the flow of experience in the present

How to meditate: 1. Sit comfortably, with your spine erect. 2. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and feel the points of contact between your body and the chair or the floor. 3. Gradually become aware of the process of breathing. 4. Allow your attention to rest in the mere sensation of breathing. 5. Every time your mind wanders in thought, gently return it to the breath. 6. The moment you notice that you have been lost in thought, observe the present thought itself as an object of consciousness. Then return your attention to the breath. 7. Continue in this way until you can merely witness all objects of consciousness as they arise, change, and pass away

We know that the worst can happen to anyone at any time—and most people spend a great deal of mental energy hoping that it won't happen to them

Even for extraordinarily lucky people, life is difficult. And when we look at what makes it so, we see that we are all prisoners of our thoughts

It is quite possible to lose one's sense of being a separate self and to experience a kind of boundless, open awareness—to feel at one with the cosmos

The traditional goal of meditation is to arrive at a state of wellbeing that is imperturbably

The purpose of meditation is to recognize that you already have such a mind. That discovery helps you to cease doing the things that produce needless confusion and suffering for yourself and others

A spiritual master will no longer feel identical to her thoughts. No longer feel that there is an inner self who is thinker of these thoughts. Will naturally maintain an openness and serenity oof mind

Even just recognizing the impermanence of your mental states—deeply, not merely as an idea—can transform your life. Every mental state you have ever had has arisen and then passed away

A healthy spiritual life can begin only once our physical, mental, social, and ethical lives have sufficiently matured. We must learn to use language before we can work with it creatively or understand its limits, and the conventional self must form before we can investigate it and understand that it is not what it appears to be. An ability to examine the contents of one's own consciousness clearly, dispassionately, and nondiscursively, with sufficient attention to realize that no inner self exists, is a very sophisticated skill

It is your mind, rather than circumstanes themselves, that determines the quality of your life. Your mind is the basis of everything you experience and of every contribution you make to the lives of others. Given this fact, it makes sense to train it

According to the Buddhist teachings, human beings have a distorted view of reality that leads them to suffer unnecessarily

Spiritual life is a process of gradually unraveling our confusion and bringing this stress to an end. By seeing things as they are, we cease to suffer in the usual ways, and our minds can open to states of well-being that are intrinsic to the nature of coonsciousness

Some pleasures are intrinsically ethical—feelings like love, gratitude, devotion, and compassion. To inhabit these states of mind is, by definition, to be brought into alignment with others

The realistic goal to be attained through spiritual practice is a capacity to be free in this moment, in the midst of whatever is happening

Investigating the nature of consciousness itself is the basis of spiritual life

Spirituality is not just important for living a good life; it is actually essential for understanding the human mind

Thomas Nagel argues that organism is conscious 'if and only if there is something that it is like to be that organism—something that it is like for the organism'

Human minds are the product of human brains

Only 25 percent of Americans believe in evolution (while 68 percent believe in the literal existence of Satan). Any conception of our place in the universe that denies we evolved from more primitive life forms is pure delusion

Consciousness is what matters to us

Consciousness is the substance of any experience we can have or hope for, now or in the future

Consciousness is also what gives our lives a moral dimension. Without consciousness, we would have no cause to wonder how we should behave toward other human beings, nor could we care how we were treated in return

We have ethical responsibilities toward other creatures precisely to the degree that our actions can affect their conscious experience for better or worse. We don't have ethical obligations toward rocks but we do have such obligations toward any creature that can suffer or be deprived of happiness

The conventional sense of self is an illusion—and spirituality largely consists in realizing this, moment to moment

Whatever we acquire in life gets dispersed. Our bodies age. Our relationships fall away. Even the most intense pleasures last only a few moments

There is no stable self that is carried along from one moment to the next

Learning to recognize thoughts as thoughts—as transient appearances in consciousness—and to no longer be distracted by them, if only for short periods of time

We all talk to ourselves—most of us merely have the good sense to keep our mouths shut

We anticipate the future, producing a ceaseless string of words and images that fill us with hope and fear

Whatever the needs of the moment, I had a choice: I could do what was required calmly, patiently, and attentively, or do it in a state of panic. Every moment of the day—indeed, every moment throughout one's life—offers an opportunity to be relaxed and responsive or to suffer unnecessarily

We can address mental suffering of this kind on at least two levels. We can use thoughts themselves as an antidote, or we can stand free of thought altogether. The first technique requires no experience with meditation, and it can work wonders if one develops the appropriate habits of mind. Many people do it quite naturally; it's called 'looking on the bright side.'

Thinking about what one is grateful for increases one's feelings of well-being, motivation, and positive outlook toward the future

Most of us let our negative emotions persist longer than is necessary

Our habitual identification with thought—that is, our failure to recognize thoughts as thoughts, as appearances in consciousness—is a primary source of human suffering

It takes a certain degree of concentration to even notice how distracted you are

Thoughts themselves are not a problem, but being identified with thought is. Taking oneself to be the thinker of one's thoughts—that is, not recognizing the present thought to be a transitory appearance in consciousness—is a delusion that produces nearly every species of human conflict and unhappiness

This is very likely explains why most of us find movies and television so compelling

We can view the actions of others, along with the minutiae of their facial expressions—even to the point of making eye contact with them—without the slightest risk of being observed ourselves

People are consistently less happy when their minds are wandering, even when the contents of their thoughts are pleasant. 'A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.'

There is an enormous difference between being hostage to one's thoughts and being freely and nonjudgmentally aware of life in the present. To make this shift is to interrupt the process of rumination and reactivity that often keep us so desperately at odds with ourselves and with other people

Consciousness is the prior condition of every experience; the self or ego is an illusionary appearance within it; look closely for what you are calling 'I,' and the feeling of being a separate self will disappear; what remains, as a matter of experience, is a field of consciousness—free, undivided, and intrinsically uncontaminated by its ever-changing contents

Mindfulness must be synonymous with dispelling the illusion of the self

Whole religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are predicated on the denial of the blind spot's existence

Self-transcendence is the distance between the observer and the observed seemed to vanish

Escape the usual tides of psychological suffering—fear, anger, shame—in an instant

The implied center of cognition and emotion simply falls away, and it is obvious that consciousness is never truly confined by what it knows. That which is aware of sadness is not sad. That which is aware of fear is not fearful. The moment I am lost in thought, however, I'm as confused as anyone else

Thoughts and emotions arise in consciousness the way that images appear on the surface of a mirror

Meditation doesn't entail the suppression of such thoughts, but it does require that we notice thoughts as they emerge and recognize them to be transitory appearances in consciousness. You are consciousness itself—you are not the next, evanescent image or string of words that appears in your mind. Not seeing it arise, however, the next thought will seem to become what you are

But how could you actually be a thought? Whatever their content, thoughts vanish almost the instant they appear

Consciousness itself is free, no matter what arises to be noticed. Meditation is the practice of finding this freedom directly, by breaking one's identification with thought and allowing the continuum of experience, pleasant and unpleasant, too simply be as it is

The deeper purpose of meditation is to recognize that which is common to all states of experience, both pleasant and unpleasant. The goal is to realize those qualities that are intrinsic to consciousness in every present moment, no matter what arises to be noticed

When you are able to rest naturally, merely witnessing the totality of experience, and thoughts themselves are left to arise and vanish as they will, you can recognize that consciousness is intrinsically undivided

Unless a person has spent some time seeking self-transcendence dualistically, she is unlikely to recognize that the brief glimpse of selflessness is actually the answer to her search

Meditation requires total acceptance of what is given in the present moment

Embracing the contents of consciousness in any moment is a very powerful way of training yourself to respond differently too adversity

It is important to distinguish between accepting unpleasant sensations and emotions as a strategy—while covertly hoping that they will go away—and truly accepting them as transitory appearance in sonsciousness

We can become wiser and more compassionate and live more fulfilling lives by refusing to be who we have tended to be in the past. But we must also relax, accepting things as they are in the present, as we strive to change ourselves

One of the first things one learns in practicing meditation is that nothing is intrinsically boring. Boredom is simply a lack of attention

Consent should be a governing principle

Shame serves a crucial social function: It keeps us from behaving like wild animals

The notion that one is incapable of making mistakes poses obvious ethical concerns, no matter what one's level of realization

A person's eyes convey a powerful illusion of inner life. The illusion is true, but it is an illusion all the same

Every inflection of mood or personality—even the most basic indication that the person is alive—comes not from the eyes but from the surrounding muscles of the face

Psychopaths tend to make exceptionally good eye contact

Teachers were undoubtedly human and susceptible to the same cultural biases and physical infirmities that define the lives of ordinary people

The ability to meditate—to rest as consciousness for a few moments prior to the arising of the next thought—can offer a profound relief from mental suffering

Everything we do is for the purpose of altering consciousness

One of the greatest responsibilities we have as a society is to educate ourselves, along with the next generation, about which substances are worth ingesting and for what purpose and which are nnot

The primary function of the brain may be to prevent a transpersonal dimension of mind from flooding consciousness, thereby allowing apes like ourselves to make their way in the world without being dazzled at every step by visionary phenomena that are irrelevant to their physical survival

Psychedelics may simply be a material means of opening the tap

Psychedelics are a uniquely potent means of altering consciousness

Guarantee of profound effect is what separates psychedelics from every other method of spiritual inquiry

The freedom from self that is both the goal and the foundation of spiritual life is coincident with normal perception and cognition

The power of psychedelics is they often reveal, in the span of a few hours, depths of awe and understanding that can otherwise elude us for a lifetime

Once one recognizes the selflessness of consciousness, the practice of meditation becomes just a means of getting more familiar with it

The true discipline is to remain committed, throughout the whole of one's life, to waking up from the dream of the self

The exponential increase in the power of technology brings with it a commensurate increase in the consequences of human ignorance

To seek to live a spiritual life without deluding ourselves, we must view these experiences in universal and secular terms

During the normal course of events, your mind will determine the quality of your life

It is within our capacity to recognize the nature of thoughts, to awaken from the dream of being merely ourselves and, in this way, to become better able to contribute to the well-being of others

We are always and everywhere in the presence of reality