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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

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

More quotes by Matthieu Ricard

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You can't be at the same time a spiritual master and someone who is always angry. It doesn't work.
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Placebos are like the lollipop of optimism, but we can do much better by dealing directly with the mind... And it works!
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Whatever you train, you change your brain.
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Happiness is the main object of our aspirations, whatever name we give to it: fulfilment, deep satisfaction, serenity, accomplishment, wisdom, fortune, joy or inner peace, and however we try to seek it: creativity, justice, altruism, striving, completion of a plan or a piece of work.
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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.
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The goal of meditation is precisely to make your mind smooth and manageable so that it can be concentrated or relaxed at will and especially to free it from the tyranny of mental afflictions and confusion
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We must distinguish between spirituality in general terms, which aims to make us better people, and religion. Adopting a religion remains optional, but becoming a better human being is essential.
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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.
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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.
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It is in learning music that many youthful hearts learn to love.
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When hearing a door creak, the optimist thinks it's opening and the pessimist thinks it's closing.
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Envy and jealousy stem from the fundamental inability to rejoice at someone else's happiness or success
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The ultimate reason for meditating is to transform ourselves in order to be better able to transform the world.
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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.
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While it may be difficult to change the world, it is always possible to change the way we look at it.
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What counts is not the enormity of the task, but the size of the courage.
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Genuine fearlessness arises with the confidence that we will be able to gather the inner resources to deal with any situation that comes our way.
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Meditation gives you more inner strength and confidence, and if you don't feel vulnerable, you can put that to the service of others. So it's not just about sitting and cultivating caring mindfulness. It's building up a way of being and then using it for the service of others.
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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.
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The Dalai Lama has been extremely interested in science since his childhood.
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