Quotes on Meditation

Meditation takes many forms.  Learn how people define meditation, and how it helps them. 

A good meditation, even when it is interrupted by occasional nodding, is much more beneficial than many outward religious exercises. - Johannes Tauler

Meditation is not a means to an end. It is both the means and the end. - Jiddu Krishnamurti

I deepen my experience of God through prayer, meditation, and forgiveness. - Marianne Williamson

If I had not been already been meditating, I would certainly have had to start. I've treated my own depression for many years with exercise and meditation, and I've found that to be a tremendous help. - Judy Collins

 Those who sit perfectly physically usually take more time to obtain the true way of Zen. - Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

When we pay attention, whatever we are doing...is transformed and becomes a part of our psiritual path. We begin to notice details and textures that we never noticed before' everyday life becomes clearer, sharper, and at the same time more spacious. - Rick Fields et al., Chop Wood, Carry Water: A Guide to Finding Spiritual Fulfillment in Everyday Life

The more I read, the more I meditate; and the more I acquire, the more I am enabled to affirm that I know nothing. – Voltaire

Meditation and water are wedded for ever. – Herman Melville

One hour’s meditation on the work of the Creator is better than seventy years of prayer. – Muhammad

The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large. – Confucius

I believe that painting should come through the avenues of meditation rather than the canals of action. – Mark Tobey

Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it. – Rene Descartes

Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in eternal awareness or pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity. - Swami Sivananda

Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom. - Buddha

My sole literary ambition is to write one good novel, then retire to my hut in the desert, assume the lotus position, compose my mind and senses, and sink into meditation, contemplating my novel. - Edward Abbey

Meditation is the tongue of the soul and the language of our spirit. - Jeremy Taylor

It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. – Mahatma Gandhi

What's encouraging about meditation is that even if we shut down, we can no longer shut down in ignorance. We see very clearly that we're closing off. That in itself begins to illuminate the darkness of ignorance. - Pema Chodron

We live, in fact, in a world starved for solitude, silence, and private: and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship. – C.S. Lewis

Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there – buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day. – Deepak Chopra

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God. – Diana Robinson

If a person’s basic state of mind is serene and calm, then it is possible for this inner peace to overwhelm a painful physical experience. – The Dalai Lama

Reading makes a full man, meditation a profound man, discourse a clear man. – Benjamin Franklin

Meditation is acceptance. It is the acceptance of life within us, without us and all around us. Acceptance of life is the beginning of human satisfaction. Transformation of life is the culmination of divine satisfaction. – Sri Chinmoy

Meditation… dissolves the mind. It erases itself. Throws the ego out on its big brittle ass. - Tom Robbins

Meditation is the life of the soul: Action, the soul of meditation. and honor the reward of action. - Frances Quarles

Meditation is listening to the Divine within. - Edgar Cayce

The spirit is something to be enjoyed. It is not a harsh discipline. And I think people should take some time everyday for some kind of moving meditation, like Qigong or Tai Chi. – Shirley Maclaine

Some people think that meditation takes time away from physical accomplishment. Taken to extremes, of course, that's true. Most people, however, find that meditation creates more time than it takes. - Peter McWilliams

Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee

If you want to find God, hang out in the space between your thoughts. - Alan Cohen

Life is available only in the present moment. - Thich Nhat Hanh

Divinely bent to meditation;
And in no worldly suits would he be mov’d,
To draw him from his holy exercise.
- William Shakespeare, Richard III Act 3, Scene 7

Petting, scratching, and cuddling a dog could be as soothing to the mind and heart as deep meditation and almost as good for the soul as prayer. - Dean Koontz, False Memory

Writing is an escape from a world that crowds me. I like being alone in a room. It’s almost a form of meditation- an investigation of my own life. – Neil Simon

Thus meditating you will no longer strive to build yourself up in your prejudices, but, forgetting self, you will remember only that you are seeking the Truth. - James Allen