29 Quotes by Joan Tollifson

Meditation is a social and political act. Listening and not-doing are actions far more powerful than most of us have yet begun to realize.

Habit has two parts, Toni [Packer] says. There is the habit itself (finger biting, smoking, drinking, whatever), and there is the observer who wants to stop, who is also a habit. And there is the conflict, the battle between the desire to indulge, which is an escape from what is, and the desire to stop, which is also a movement away from what is.

Basic awareness meditation is really nothing more or less than giving open, nonjudgmental attention to present-moment, non-conceptual experiencing. You don’t have to be in the lotus position. This can happen on the city bus.

The concentration of a baby is alive wonderment. It is to that kind of organic interest, or passion, and awareness that Toni [Packer] seems to be pointing: listening that is not rote or methodical in any way. The baby has no sense yet of self-image, of itself as an object—a person—who needs to be improved, and Toni will question any meditation practice that contributes to such a picture.

How complete, whole, undivided seeing comes about is a mystery. Any formulation or method we invent will eventually get in our way. It’s as if everything we learn must be instantly left behind.

During the last year she was alive, at age 95, my mother said many times, “It’s so freeing to realize that nothing really matters.” She said it joyously, with relief, as if a burden had been lifted. She also said over and over, “Love yourself".Tollifson, Joan. Nothing to Grasp (p. 174). New Harbinger Publications. Kindle Edition.

You may discover that when there is no resistance to totally being in hell, heaven opens up and samsara reveals its true nature as nirvana.

But this is my old game, isn’t it? Comparing, judging, evaluating, liking and disliking, approving and disapproving. There are, I sense, inseparable strengths and weaknesses in whatever way you go, and the point ultimately is just to go.

During the last year she was alive, at age 95, my mother said many times, “It’s so freeing to realize that nothing really matters.” She said it joyously, with relief, as if a burden had been lifted. She also said over and over, “Love yourself.