50 Inspiring Quotes from Spiritual Leaders: Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti, Alan Watts, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and Shinzen Young
Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. It often involves a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. Here are 50 quotes from spiritual teachers that can inspire and guide us on our spiritual journey.
| Quote Author |
|---|
| 10 Quotes by Eckhart Tolle |
| 10 Quotes by Adyashanti |
| 10 Quotes by Alan Watts |
| 10 Quotes by Nisargadatta Maharaj |
| 10 Quotes by Shinzen Young |
Eckhart Tolle
| Quote | Author |
|---|---|
| "The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it." | Eckhart Tolle |
| "Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life." | Eckhart Tolle |
| "Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness." | Eckhart Tolle |
| "The power for creating a better future is contained in the present moment: You create a good future by creating a good present." | Eckhart Tolle |
| "Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it." | Eckhart Tolle |
| "Don't look for peace. Don't look for any other state than the one you are in now; otherwise, you will set up inner conflict and unconscious resistance." | Eckhart Tolle |
| "Being spiritual has nothing to do with what you believe and everything to do with your state of consciousness." | Eckhart Tolle |
| "To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment." | Eckhart Tolle |
| "You are not IN the universe, you ARE the universe, an intrinsic part of it. Ultimately you are not a person, but a focal point where the universe is becoming conscious of itself. What an amazing miracle." | Eckhart Tolle |
| "Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance." | Eckhart Tolle |
Adyashanti
| Quote | Author |
|---|---|
| "Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing through the facade of pretense. It's the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true." | Adyashanti |
| "The truth is that you already are what you are seeking." | Adyashanti |
| "All true spiritual teachings are about letting go of fear. Seen from the highest perspective, fear is nothing more than an emotion that arises in the presence of an illusion." | Adyashanti |
| "The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can't be organized or regulated. It isn't true that everyone should follow one path. Listen to your own truth." | Adyashanti |
| "In the process of awakening, the spiritual journey, everybody needs to have an ego death and to have their self-concepts challenged." | Adyashanti |
| "The aim of all spiritual practice is love." | Adyashanti |
| "The spiritual journey is not about acquiring something outside yourself. Rather, you are penetrating deep layers of yourself to discover the fullness of who you already are." | Adyashanti |
| "The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love." | Adyashanti |
| "The spiritual journey is one of constant transformation. In order to grow, you must give up the struggle to remain the same, and learn to embrace change at all times." | Adyashanti |
| "The spiritual journey does not consist of arriving at a new destination where a person gains what he did not have, or becomes what he is not. It consists in the dissipation of one's own ignorance concerning oneself and life, and the gradual growth of that understanding which begins the spiritual awakening." | Adyashanti |
Alan Watts
| Quote | Author |
|---|---|
| "The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." | Alan Watts |
| "You are a function of what the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is a function of what the whole ocean is doing." | Alan Watts |
| "The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves." | Alan Watts |
| "This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play." | Alan Watts |
| "Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone." | Alan Watts |
| "We do not 'come into' this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree." | Alan Watts |
| "The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless." | Alan Watts |
| "You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself." | Alan Watts |
| "The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there." | Alan Watts |
| "No one is more dangerously insane than one who is sane all the time: he is like a steel bridge without flexibility, and the order of his life is rigid and brittle." | Alan Watts |
Nisargadatta Maharaj
| Quote | Author |
|---|---|
| "Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy." | Nisargadatta Maharaj |
| "The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it." | Nisargadatta Maharaj |
| "Love says 'I am everything'. Wisdom says 'I am nothing'. Between the two, my life flows." | Nisargadatta Maharaj |
| "When I look inside and see that I am nothing, that's wisdom. When I look outside and see that I am everything, that's love. And between these two, my life turns." | Nisargadatta Maharaj |
| "You will receive everything you need when you stop asking for what you do not need." | Nisargadatta Maharaj |
| "The consciousness in you and the consciousness in me, apparently two, really one, seek unity and that is love." | Nisargadatta Maharaj |
| "Whatever happens, happens to you by you, through you; you are the creator, enjoyer and destroyer of all you perceive." | Nisargadatta Maharaj |
| "The world is like a sheet of paper on which something is typed. The reading and the meaning will vary with the reader, but the paper is the common factor, always present, rarely perceived. When the ribbon is removed, typing leaves no trace on the paper. So is my mind - the impressions keep on coming, but no trace is left." | Nisargadatta Maharaj |
| "Wisdom is knowing I am, Love is knowing I am everything." | Nisargadatta Maharaj |
| "All you need is already within you, only you must approach your self with reverence and love. Self-condemnation and self-distrust are grievous errors." | Nisargadatta Maharaj |
Shinzen Young
| Quote | Author |
|---|---|
| "The ultimate expression of meditation comes when we can feel all the pains of the world, experience them with mindfulness and equanimity so they dissolve into energy, and then recolor that energy and radiate it out as unconditional love, moment by moment, through every pore of our being." | Shinzen Young |
| "The essence of spirituality is to be constantly aware of the oneness of all, at the same time to celebrate the uniqueness of the individual." | Shinzen Young |
| "The miracle of mindfulness is the recognition that we have the capacity to be aware of our awareness." | Shinzen Young |
| "Meditation is a microcosm, a model, a mirror. The skills we practice when we sit are transferable to the rest of our lives." | Shinzen Young |
| "Mindfulness is the key to the present moment. Without it we cannot see the world clearly, and we simply stay lost in the wanderings of our minds." | Shinzen Young |
| "The ultimate goal of meditation is to become fully present in our lives - to awaken to the wonder and marvel of the ordinary that we often take for granted." | Shinzen Young |
| "The goal of meditation is not to control your thoughts, but to stop letting them control you." | Shinzen Young |
| "In meditation, we are constantly discovering who and what we are." | Shinzen Young |
| "Meditation is a way of being, not a technique. Meditation is not about trying to get anywhere else. It is about allowing yourself to be exactly where you are and as you are, and for the world to be exactly as it is in this moment as well." | Shinzen Young |
| "The purpose of meditation practice is not enlightenment; it is to pay attention even at unextraordinary times, to be of the present, nothing-but-the-present, to bear this mindfulness of now into each event of ordinary life." | Shinzen Young |
Conclusion
Spirituality is a journey of self-discovery and self-transformation. It is about finding peace within ourselves and extending that peace to the world around us. These quotes from spiritual teachers can serve as signposts on our journey, reminding us of the wisdom and love that reside within us.
"The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love." - Adyashanti
Remember, the spiritual journey is not about reaching a destination. It's about the journey itself, the process of growth and transformation. It's about being fully present in each moment, embracing life with mindfulness and love.
"The ultimate goal of meditation is to become fully present in our lives - to awaken to the wonder and marvel of the ordinary that we often take for granted." - Shinzen Young
So, let's embark on this journey with an open heart and an open mind, ready to embrace whatever comes our way. Let's remember that we are not alone on this journey. We are all connected, part of the same universe, part of the same whole.
"You are not IN the universe, you ARE the universe, an intrinsic part of it. Ultimately you are not a person, but a focal point where the universe is becoming conscious of itself. What an amazing miracle." - Eckhart Tolle
And let's remember to celebrate the uniqueness of each individual, even as we recognize the oneness of all.
"The essence of spirituality is to be constantly aware of the oneness of all, at the same time to celebrate the uniqueness of the individual." - Shinzen Young
May these quotes inspire you and guide you on your spiritual journey. May they remind you of the wisdom and love that reside within you. And may they help you to live each moment with mindfulness and joy.
"The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves." - Alan Watts
Remember, the journey is the destination. So, let's enjoy the journey!
"Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy." - Nisargadatta Maharaj
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