Awakening Quotes

“Self-observation brings man to the realization of the necessity of self-change. And in observing himself a man notices that self-observation itself brings about certain changes in his inner processes. He begins to understand that self-observation is an instrument of self-change, a means of awakening.”

~Gurdjieff

“In spiritual life there is no room for compromise. Awakening is not negotiable; we cannot bargain to hold on to things that please us while relinquishing things that do not matter to us. A lukewarm yearning for awakening is not enough to sustain us through the difficulties involved in letting go. It is important to understand that anything that can be lost was never truly ours, anything that we deeply cling to only imprisons us.”

~Jack Kornfield

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.  Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

~Carl Jung

“Without self-knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave.”

~Gurdjieff

“Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god. And where we had sought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence, and where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world.”

~Joseph Campbell

“The best things in life cannot be told. That is to say, you cannot describe that which lies beyond the reach of words.”

~Joseph Campbell Companion

“The only true wisdom lives far from mankind, out in the great loneliness, and can be reached only through suffering. Privation and suffering alone open the mind to all that is hidden to others.”

~Igjugarjuk, Caribou Eskimo Shaman, quoted in Joseph Campbell’s ‘The Power of Myth’

Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true. [paraphrased]

~Buddha

The enlightened man is capable of perceiving both unity and multiplicity without the least contradiction between them.

~Huang Po

One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure is disagreeable and therefore not popular.

~C.G. Jung

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.

~Louis L’Amour

Discontent is the first necessity of progress.

~Thomas Edison

The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting.

~Pierre Abelard

“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

~Bruce Lee

“Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to go to his class.”

~General Choi Hong Hi, Founder of ITF Taekwon-Do.

“Surrender is the ultimate technique to merge with existence.”

~Paramahamsa Nithyananda

How much can I learn from a tree! The tree is my church, The tree is my temple, the tree is my mantra, the tree is my poem and my prayer.

~Salish Kumar

“Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self.”

~Mother Teresa

“May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.”

~Mother Teresa

“Eternity is not endless time,  eternity means timeless.”

~Mooji

“Sometimes, Grace throws you and your ‘world’ into  the washing machine, full spin, so that the fearful and controlling tendency  is compelled to offer itself to the Totality—to the will and dance of the Cosmos.”

~Mooji

“You have to see and meet God in this life.

Don’t let this life go by and miss discovering the Supreme One.

You will find him inside as your constant being.

Pray: Holy mother, holy father, holy spirit,

don’t give me the illusion that even one second belongs to me.

All is you. I, also, am you and yours.

For only like this does your life stand the chance to be miraculous.”

~Mooji

“Whatever comes, don’t push it away. When it goes, do not grieve.”

~Mooji

“Dying to your own attachments is a beautiful death.

Because this death release you into real life.

You have to die as a seed to live as a tree.”

~Mooji

“Step into the fire of self-discovery. This fire will not burn you, it will only burn what you are not.”

~Mooji

“Feelings are just visitors, let them come and go.”

~Mooji

“Surrender is not a weakness it is strength.It takes tremendous strength to surrender life to the supreme – to the cosmic unfolding.”

~Mooji

“Be willing to live a few years how most people won’t, so that you can live the rest of your life how most people can’t.”

~Mastin Kipp

“If you choose to see everything as a miracle, then where you are right now is perfect. There is nowhere to run to; there is nothing else to do except be in this moment and allow what is to be.”

~Mastin Kipp

“If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.”

~Iyanla Vanzant

“Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness.”

~Alejandro Jodorowsky

“One becomes wise only in measures, as he goes through his own insanity.”

~Alejandro Jodorowsky