582 Quotes by Sharon Salzberg

Effort is the unconstrained willingness to persevere through difficulty. It is not a harsh, straining, desperate effort but, rather, an ardent and wholehearted remembrance of our capacity for freedom. Right Effort is willingness to open where we have been closed, to come close to what we have avoided, to be patient with ourselves, and to let go of our preconceptions.

Can we allow the lives of others to be different from ours and feel happy for them? Can we rejoice for them as their happiness grows, in whatever way that is happening?

Restore your attention or bring it to a new level by dramatically slowing down whatever you’re doing.

Mindfulness helps us see the addictive aspect of self-criticism – a repetitive cycle of flaying ourselves again and again, feeling the pain anew.

You don’t have to believe anything, adopt a dogma in order to learn how to meditate.

There is no reason for a feeling of separation from anything or anyone, because we have been it all and done it all. How then can we feel self-righteous or removed from anyone or any action? Ther is no spot on this earth where we have not laughed, cried, been born and died. So in some sense, every single place we go is home. Everyone we meet we know. Everything that is done we are capable of.

When we bring deep awareness to whatever’s bothering us, the same things might be happening, but we are able to relate to them differently.

Connecting to your breath when thoughts or images arise is like spotting a friend in a crowd: you don’t have to shove everyone else aside or order them to go away; you just direct your attention, your enthusiasm, your interest toward your friend. ‘Oh,’ you think, ’there’s my friend in that crowd. Oh, there’s my breath, among those thoughts and feelings and sensations.

One of the most powerful aspects of delusion, or ignorance, is the belief that what we do does not really matter.