44 Inspiring Meditation Quotes

In today's fast-paced world, finding moments of tranquility and reflection can be a challenge. Whether you're new to meditation or a seasoned practitioner, words of wisdom can serve as powerful catalysts for personal growth and inner peace. Our curated collection of the top 44 inspiring meditation quotes aims to elevate your practice, offering insights from various thinkers, spiritual leaders, and mindfulness experts. These quotes not only provide motivation but also deepen your understanding of the transformative power of meditation. Dive in and let these timeless messages inspire a meaningful journey toward a more centered and mindful life.

1. “There are those hearts, reader, that never mend again once they are broken. Or if they do mend, they heal themselves in a crooked and lopsided way, as if sewn together by a careless craftsman. Such was the fate of Chiaroscuro. His heart was broken. Picking up the spoon and placing it on his head, speaking of revenge, these things helped him to put his heart together again. But it was, alas, put together wrong.” - kate dicamillo

2. “when we look up, it widens our horizons. we see what a little speck we are in the universe, so insignificant, and we all take ourselves so seriously, but in the sky, there are no boundaries. No differences of caste or religion or race.” - Julia Gregson

3. “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” - Thich Nhat Hang

4. “The Stone of Guilt in the River of the Mind, the block in the flow of intelligence.~ Paramahamsa Nithyananda” - Paramahamsa Nithyananda

5. “The Way to do is to be.” - Lao Tzu

6. “The act of meditation is being spacious.” - Sogyal Rinpoche

7. “Truth is not a reward for good behaviour, nor a prize for passing some tests. It cannot be brought about. It is the primary, the unborn, the ancient source of all that is. You are eligible because you are. You need not merit truth. It is your own....Stand still, be quiet.” - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

8. “Watchfulness is the path of immortality:Unwatchfulness is the path of death.Those who are watchful never die:Those who do not watch are already as dead.Those who with a clear mind have seen this truth,Those who are wise and ever watchful,They feel the joy of watchfulness,The joy of the path of the great.And those who in high thought and in deep contemplationWith ever living power advance on the path,They in the end reach NIRVANA,The peace supreme and infinite joy.~ Buddha” - Juan Mascaro

9. “A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an answer. Thus the question is suspended between the two persons involved in this answer and question. It is like a bud with untouched blossoms . . . If the question is left totally untouched by thought, it then has its own answer because the questioner and answerer, as persons, have disappeared. This is a form of dialogue in which investigation reaches a certain point of intensity and depth, which then has a quality that thought can never reach.” - Jiddu Krishnamurti

10. “Emotional baggage,” which is carried over from the past, colors our perceptions. Likewise, past conclusions and beliefs, based on reasoning that may or may not have been accurate, also tint our perception of reality. Retaining our capacity for reason is common sense, but definite conclusions and beliefs keep us from seeing life as it really is at any given moment.Emotional reactions can be unreasonable, and reason can be flawed. It’s difficult to have deep confidence in either one, especially when they’re often at war with each other. But the universal mind exists in the instant, in a moment beyond time, and it sees the universe as it literally is. It’s the universe perceiving itself. It is, moreover, something we can have absolute confidence in, and with that confidence, we can maintain a genuinely positive attitude.” - H.E. Davey

11. “By means of personal experimentation and observation, we can discover certain simple and universal truths. The mind moves the body, and the body follows the mind. Logically then, negative thought patterns harm not only the mind but also the body. What we actually do builds up to affect the subconscious mind and in turn affects the conscious mind and all reactions.” - H.E. Davey

12. “Our past cannot be changed, and to be preoccupied with it is inefficient in time and effort. Likewise, by fretting over the future, we only exhaust ourselves, making us less able to effectively respond when the future is actually upon us. By worrying about a mishap that may or may not take place, we’re forced to undergo the event twice—once when imagining it and once again if and when we actually experience it.” - H.E. Davey

13. “When you plant a seed of love, it is you that blossoms.” - Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati

14. “No difference, good or bad. Thoughts like birds in mind. Some fly in. Some fly out. Some stay at water hole to drink. Beware of birds that linger.” - Natalie Wright

15. “Theoretically, I wanted to meditate, but I found actually doing it extraordinarily difficult. As a therapist, I knew that we all want progress, but we resist change. I was a vivid example of this maxim. Figuring out my taxes and going to the dentist were easier than meditating. Even as I told myself meditation was a top priority, I worked to avoid that forty-five minutes alone with my mind.” - Mary Bray Pipher

16. “We must experience the Truth in a direct, practical and real way; this is only possible in the stillness and silence of the mind, and this is achieved by means of meditation.” - Samael Aun Weor

17. “We need something that encourages us to work, we need an intimate aid. This is only possible through meditation.” - Samael Aun Weor

18. “Memorizing someone else’s explanation of the truth isn’t the same as seeing the truth for yourself. It is what it is—the memorization of second-hand knowledge. It is not your experience. It is not your knowledge. And no matter how much material is learned by rote, and no matter how eloquently we can speak about the memorized information, we’re clinging to a description of something that’s not ours. What’s more, the description is never the item itself. By holding onto our impression of certain descriptions, we frequently are unable to see the real thing when it’s right before our eyes. We are conditioned by memorizing and believing concepts—the truth of which we’ve never genuinely seen for ourselves.” - H.E. Davey

19. “You honor yourself by acting with dignity and composure.” - Allan Lokos

20. “To relinquish the futile effort to control change is one of the strengthening forces of true detachment & thus true love.” - Sharon Salzberg

21. “We are all too often told by someone that we are too old, too young, too different, too much the same, and those comments can be devastating.” - Sharon Salzberg

22. “Observing your thoughts, feelings & sensations is the grist of the practice.” - Allan Lokos

23. “If you don't have answers to your problems after a four-hour run, you ain't getting them.” - Christopher McDougall

24. “When you are soul-centered, you can focus your attention where and when you want to, easily, without distraction. You know to look for what you want to see and experience. You know that what you seek you shall find, and what you focus on in life will be more prominent in your awareness. You know your awareness is powerful and creative." ~ Sarah McLean” - Sarah McLean

25. “Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what’s happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s happening, stories that get in the way of direct experience. Often such stories treat a fleeting state of mind as if it were our entire and permanent self.” - Sharon Salzberg

26. “Restore your attention or bring it to a new level by dramatically slowing down whatever you're doing.” - Sharon Salzberg

27. “Everything in modern city life is calculated to keep man from entering into himself and thinking about spiritual things. Even with the best of intentions a spiritual man finds himself exhausted and deadened and debased by the constant noise of machines and loudspeakers, the dead air and the glaring lights of offices and shops, the everlasting suggestion of advertising and propaganda.The whole mechanism of modern life is geared for a flight from God and from the spirit into the wilderness of neurosis.” - Thomas Merton

28. “Genuine goodness isn’t discovered through postponement but must exist now or not at all. It cannot be based on what is not. We must find it in what is and what we truly see.” - H.E. Davey

29. “While you are continuing this practice, week after week, year after year, your experience will become deeper and deeper, and your experience will cover everything you do in your everyday life. The most important thing is to forget all gaining ideas, all dualistic ideas. In other words, just practice zazen in a certain posture. Do not think about anything. Just remain on your cushion without expecting anything. Then eventually you will resume your own true nature. That is to say, your own true nature resumes itself.” - Shunryu Suzuki

30. “The easiest way to get touch with this universal power is through silent Prayer. Shut your eyes, shut your mouth, and open your heart. This is the golden rule of prayer. Prayer should be soundless words coming forth from the centre of your heart filled with love.” - Amit Ray

31. “Feelings and stories of unworthiness and shame are perhaps the most binding element in the trance of fear. When we believe something is wrong with us, we are convinced we are in danger. Our shame fuels ongoing fear, and our fear fuels more shame. The very fact that we feel fear seems to prove that we are broken or incapable. When we are trapped in trance, being fearful and bad seem to define who we are. The anxiety in our body, the stories, the ways we make excuses, withdraw or lash out—these become to us the self that is most real.” - Tara Brach

32. “You have a unique body and mind, with a particular history and conditioning. No one can offer you a formula for navigating all situations and all states of mind. Only by listening inwardly in a fresh and open way will you discern at any given time what most serves your healing and freedom.” - Tara Brach

33. “The world we live in might not be free from pain, but you have the ability to create for yourself a world free from struggle.” - Sheila Applegate

34. “A primary rule of practice is meditation with no objects or anchors. Just concentrate on the breath.” - Toshimi A. Kayaki

35. “Up there in that room, as I see it, is the reading and the thinking-through, a theory of rivers, of trees moving, of falling light. Here on the river, as I lurch against a freshening of the current, is the practice of rivers. In navigating by the glow of the Milky Way, the practice of light. In steadying with a staff, the practice of wood.” - Barry Lopez

36. “I was tired in the evening yesterday. I felt drained by the last days outer conflicts. I felt separated from life. Suddenly I heard the wind blowing through the trees outside my open window, whispering a silent and playful invitation: "Do you want to play? Do you want to join the dance?" This playful invitation again joined my heart and being with the Existential dance. I was again in a silent prayer and oneness with life.” - Swami Dhyan Giten

37. “Intuition is a trust that if we follow our heart, if we follow our love, joy and truth, the Whole becomes enriched.” - Swami Dhyan Giten

38. “Presence is to meet another person in meditation. Presence is to invite another person in meditation. It is a meeting in love, joy, acceptance, sincerity, truth, silence and oneness.” - Swami Dhyan Giten

39. “Spontaneity in the therapeutic work arises when the therapist can allow creative and authentic impulses to arise from moment to moment from the inner being, from the meditative quality within, from the inner emptiness, from the capacity to surrender to life. Then the therapist becomes less of a technician and more of an artist in the therapeutic work. It is then when the therapist and client meets in awareness without any barrier between.” - Swami Dhyan Giten

40. “Presence is about how every action can arise from the quality, which we call awareness – the presence of our inner being, the presence of our soul. It is a large difference between working with people from the inner being and working with people from duty or a specific technique. Through working from the inner being, we can touch the soul of the other person, while we can only touch the personality of the other person, his surface and periphery, if we just work from a technique.” - Swami Dhyan Giten

41. “Meditation is a way to be narcissistic without hurting anyone” - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

42. “Any point of view reflects some side of truth and must not claim that it is complete” - Anatoliy Obraztsov

43. “The way is not clear, and it is when you do not have clarity, when this is allowed, that you will finally have clarity.” - T. Scott McLeod

44. “When you eliminate the Ego's intense desire to be correct, the clarity of the moment can come through. How simple is that?” - Beth Johnson