Quote

In the freshness of the present moment, past is gone, future is not yet born, and—if one remains in pure mindfulness and freedom—disturbing thoughts arise and go without leaving a trace. That is basic meditation.

Matthieu Ricard

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Matthieu Ricard
Age: 78
Born: 1946
Born: February 15
Bhikkhu
Geneticist
Monk
Philosopher
Photographer
Translator
Writer
Without
Present
Mindfulness
Gone
Arise
Freedom
Basic
Future
Leaving
Moment
Remains
Born
Meditation
Freshness
Moments
Thoughts
Trace
Past
Pure
Disturbing

More quotes by Matthieu Ricard

Image
Good and evil exist only in terms of the happiness or suffering they create in ourselves and others
Matthieu Ricard
Image
The ultimate reason for meditating is to transform ourselves in order to be better able to transform the world.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
Happiness is not the endless pursuit of pleasant experiences - that sounds more like a recipe for exhaustion - but a way of being that results from cultivating a benevolent mind, emotional balance, inner freedom, inner peace, and wisdom. Each of these qualities is a skill that can be enhanced through training the mind.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
Various studies indicate that with age people gain more wisdom about life and are somehow happier than younger people. This is especially true if, as we age, we learn how to become more generous, altruistic, and peaceful.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
Happiness is a state of inner fulfillment, not the gratification of inexhaustible desires for outward things.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
If you don't have altruism, inner strength, inner peace, attention, then it's a trauma. It makes a difficult life for you and for others.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
We try to fix the outside so much, but our control of the outer world is limited, temporary, and often, illusory.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
Empathy is the faculty to resonate with the feelings of others. When we meet someone who is joyful, we smile. When we witness someone in pain, we suffer in resonance with his or her suffering.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
Anyone can be happy by simply training their brain.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
You're not insensitive or indifferent, but you're also not vulnerable to the upheavals that cause emotional stress because you can buffer that... So that's the result of meditation you could call that emotional balance.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
Placebos are like the lollipop of optimism, but we can do much better by dealing directly with the mind... And it works!
Matthieu Ricard
Image
If there is a remedy or a cure, a solution to a problem or difficulty, why worry?
Matthieu Ricard
Image
It is in learning music that many youthful hearts learn to love.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
It's not the magnitude of the task that matters, it's the magnitude of our courage.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
There is definitely openness to others' suffering that is dealt not with distress but with compassion.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
I don't often get into a bad mood, since it does not help anything and clouds my judgment, but I can certainly see that sometimes things go terribly wrong. We need to understand the reasons for this and work towards building new conditions that will bring about better circumstances.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
Enlightenment is eliminating mental confusion, eliminating hatred, jealousy, mental toxins, cravings. That's very simple and straightforward. Whether you can do it or not is another matter.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
Changing your attitude has a curative effect... Maybe you can go directly to a change of mind, a change of attitude.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
When the mind is full of memories and preoccupied by the future, it misses the freshness of the present moment. In this way, we fail to recognize the luminous simplicity of mind that is always present behind the veils of thought.
Matthieu Ricard
Image
Transform our way of perceiving things, we transform the quality of our lives.
Matthieu Ricard