92 Quotes by Mark Epstein

His efforts were always in the service of releasing people from their fixed ideas about who or what they were, about freeing them from attachment to whatever concept they were clinging to, about loosening the hold that the fear-based ego claimed as its birthright.

After the ecstasy, it is said, comes the laundry.

Enlightenment does not mean getting rid of anything. It means changing one’s frame of reference so that all things become enlightening.

In order to change conditions outside ourselves, whether they concern the environment or relations with others, we must first change within ourselves.

Although there are occasions when it is more pronounced and awful and occasions when it is actually horrific, trauma does not just happen to a few unlucky people. It is the bedrock of our biology.

The traumatized individual lives outside time, in his or her own separate reality, unable to relate to the consensual reality of others. The remembering quality of mindfulness counters this tendency.

The only way to find out where I was was to get out of the way and let myself happen.

According to Buddhism, it is our fear at experiencing ourselves directly that creates suffering.

After five minutes, or ten, or fifteen – it doesn’t matter – open your eyes and resume your day. For a moment or two things might seem more alive.