77 Quotes by Henepola Gunaratana

Seeing through the dirt.Sometimes we need to ignore the persons superficial weaknesses to find a good heart.

Mindfulness helps us freeze the frame so that we can become aware of our sensations and experiences as they are, without the distorting coloration of socially conditioned responses or habitual reactions.

When you have learned compassion for yourself, compassion for others is automatic.

Peace is not a thought, not a concept; it is a nonverbal experience.

By silencing the mind, we can experience real peace. As long as various kinds of thoughts agitate the brain, we don't experience 100 percent peace.

The present moment is changing so fast that we often do not notice its existence at all. Every moment of mind is like a series of pictures passing through a projector. Some of the pictures come from sense impressions. Others come from memories of past experiences or from fantasies of the future.

You can't ever get everything you want. It is impossible. Luckily, there is another option: You can learn to control your mind, to step outside of the endless cycle of desire and aversion.

Watch the functioning of your own mind in a calm and detached manner so you can gain insight into your own behavior.

You can learn not to want what you want, to recognize desires but not be controlled by them.