🅰Week 2026-27: On Awareness

"To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are." (Eric Hoffer, "The Passionate State of Mind, and Other Aphorisms", 1955)

"One has to reach to the absolute state of awareness: that is Zen. You cannot do it every morning for a few minutes or for half an hour and then forget all about it. It has to become like your heartbeat. You have to sit in it, you have to walk in it. Yes, you have even to sleep in it." (Osho [Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh], "Walking in Zen, Sitting in Zen", 1982)

"This is the awe-inspiring universe of magic: There are no atoms, only waves and motions all around. Here, you discard all belief in barriers to understanding. You put aside understanding itself. This universe cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be detected in any way by fixed perceptions. It is the ultimate void where no preordained screens occur upon which forms may be projected. You have only one awareness here - the screen of the magi: Imagination! Here, you learn what it is to be human. You are a creator of order, of beautiful shapes and systems, an organizer of chaos." (Frank Herbert, “Heretics of Dune”, 1984)

"Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one's awareness of one's ignorance." (Anthony de Mello, "One Minute Wisdom", 1988)

"Understand the obstructions you are putting in the way of love, freedom, and happiness and they will drop. Turn on the light of awareness and the darkness will disappear. Happiness is not something you acquire; love is not something you produce; love is not something you have; love is something that has you." (Anthony de Mello, "Awareness: Conversations with the Masters", 1990

"Every positive change - every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness - involves a rite of passage. Each time to ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation. I have never found an exception." (Dan Millman, "No Ordinary Moments: A Peaceful Warrior's Guide to Daily Life", 1992)

"There are many good forms of meditation practice. A good meditation practice is any one that develops awareness or mindfulness of our body and our sense, of our mind and heart." (Jack Kornfield, "Meditation for Beginners", 1998)

"Any method can settle the mind in the present moment, but with Silent Illumination you can be relieved of even the present moment. Just take this attitude: don’t worry about the past or the future, and let go of the present too. Just stay in awareness. Chan is called the 'gateless gate' because it has no door to enlightenment." (Sheng Yen, "The Method of No-Method: The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination", 2008)

"One method for calming the mind is to contemplate the transient nature of our thoughts. When you are aware that your thoughts arise and perish of their own accord, there will be no need to be ruled or conditioned by them. Your mind will settle into observing them with detached awareness and your emotions will become even. If you can do this, you will soon be able to pacify your mind." (Sheng Yen, "The Method of No-Method: The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination", 2008)

"Our consciousness and awareness, which includes our choices as to where we place our focus, alters the paths of our lives, and creates a split in reality, leading to the creation of two or more worlds at any moment in time." (Kevin Michel, "Moving Through Parallel Worlds to Achieve Your Dreams", 2013)

🅰Week 2026-26: On Awareness (unsourced)

"All the verbal teachings point to the inherent nature of the immediate mirroring awareness. As long as this is not affected by anything, existent or otherwise, it is your guide. It can shine through all realms, whether they exist or not." (Pai-chang)

"An enlightened awareness is within each one of us, right at this moment.
This enlightened awareness is truly unborn and marvellously illuminating; and everything is perfectly managed by it.
Conclusively realise that what is unborn and illuminating is truly awakened and without effort,
rest naturally as the Unborn Mind.
Resting in this way, you are a living Buddha." (Bankei Yōtaku)

"As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to flow with joy and ease. When you act out the present-moment awareness, whatever you do becomes imbued with a sense of quality, care, and love – even the most simple action." (Eckhart Tolle)

"Do not hold to the intellectual understanding of others; turn the light of awareness back to the root, and it is not there at all." (Pao-chih)

"Do you think that you can clear your mind by sitting constantly in silent meditation? This makes your mind narrow, not clear. Integral awareness is fluid and adaptable, present in all places and at all times. That is true meditation... . 

The Tao is clear and simple, and it doesn't avoid the world." (Lao Tzu)

"Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking. Steady practice is keeping mindful in every posture, whether sitting, walking, standing or lying down. When coming out of sitting, don't think that you're coming out of meditation, but that you are only changing postures. If you reflect in this way, you will have peace. Wherever you are, you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly. You will have a steady awareness within yourself." (Ajahn Chah)

"Efficiency in sparring and fighting is not a matter of correct classical, traditional form. Efficiency is anything that scores. Creating fancy forms and classical sets to replace sparring is like trying to wrap and tie a pound of water into a manageable shape of paper sack. For something that is static, fixed, dead, there can be a way or a definite path; but not for anything that is moving and living. In sparring there's no exact path or method, but instead a perceptive, pliable, choice-less awareness. It lives from moment to moment." (Bruce Lee)

"Integral wisdom involves a direct participation in every moment: the observer and the observed are dissolved in the light of pure awareness, and no mental concepts or attitudes are present to dim that light." (Lao Tzu) 

"Let the spirit out - Discard all thoughts of reward, all hopes of praise and fears of blame, all awareness of one's bodily self. And, finally closing the avenues of sense perception, let the spirit out, as it will." (Bruce Lee)

"Meditation is not passive sitting in silence. It is sitting in awareness, free from distraction, and realizing the clear understanding that arises from concentration." (Thich Nhat Hanh)

"Meditation is the awareness that I am not the mind." (Osho)

"Meditation means to be constantly extricating yourself from the clinging of mind. By letting go of even the thought ‘I,’ and 'me' what is left? There is nowhere to stand and no one to stand there. No separation anywhere. Pure awareness. Neither this, nor that. Just clarity and being." (Ram Dass)

"Mindfulness means moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness. It is cultivated by refining our capacity to pay attention, intentionally, in the present moment, and then sustaining that attention over time as best we can. In the process, we become more in touch with our life as it is unfolding." (Jon Kabat-Zinn, "Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting", 1997)

"Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully in each moment to be present; inviting ourselves to interface with this moment in full awareness, with the intention to embody as best we can an orientation of calmness, mindfulness, and equanimity right here and right now." (Jon Kabat-Zinn)

"Quietly go to work on your own self-awareness.
If you want to awaken all of humanity,
then awaken all of yourself.
If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world,
then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself.
Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation." (Lao Tzu)

"Settling your mind in its natural state entails releasing all grasping, grasping onto the future, and the past, grasping onto cogitations about the present. Letting your awareness rest in its own place, naturally luminous and still." (B Alan Wallace)

"The body moves naturally, automatically, without any personal intervention or awareness. If we think too much, our actions become slow and hesitant." (Taisen Deshimaru)