morning practice
Insights
A running collection of quotes compiled since 2025 as part of a morning practice. Added to as the practice continues.
Sources
- The Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu (Stephen Mitchell translated version)
- The Second Book of Tao Stephen Mitchell (Stephen Mitchell translated version)
- The Will To Do Nothing Charles Freligh
- The Book of Awakening Mark Nepo
- Charles' Insight Timer Courses (Tao Mastery · The Zen Path · The God Note)
- Secular Buddhism (podcast)
Mindfulness is the awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.
Jon Kabat-Zinn
To remember the present moment — that this is happening right now, that this is it, this is all there is. The practice to keep in mind that I am here right now, and this is the whole thing.
Sati, traditional definition
Mindfulness is the sense of here-ing. Present moment awareness without a storyline attached, or being aware of the storyline as an observer. When my mind is truly here, there is no room for self-consciousness or fear or worry or regret. Because this is all there is.
Charles Freligh
Resist and suffer or accept and adapt.
Genuine change is only available in the context of uncertainty.
Can you drop into vertical awareness (here & now), as opposed to horizontal (then & there) grasping?
When I have right understanding, someone else's judgment becomes meaningless.
The Buddha's Eightfold Path
When my fundamental identity is the universe, there is no fear. Fear is a symptom of the self.
If you don't realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow. When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused… Immersed in the wonder of the Tao, you can deal with whatever life brings you.
Tao Te ChingPractice not doing, and everything will fall into place.
Tao Te Ching
The best chance to be whole is to love whatever gets in the way, until it ceases to be an obstacle.
Mark Nepo
Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself? The master doesn't seek fulfillment. Not seeking, not expecting, she is present, and can welcome all things.
Tao Te Ching
All this tells us that no amount of thinking can eliminate the wonder and pain of living. No wall or avoidance or denial — no cause or excuse — can keep the awareness of life from running through us.
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
When we stop resisting reality, we create so much more space to respond from real presence.
If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, this is the best season of your life.
Tao Te ChingHaving without possessing. Acting with no expectations.
Tao Te Ching
Humility means trusting the Tao, thus never needing to be defensive.
Tao Te Ching
If everything has a point, then there's merely endless pointing… away from here.
Dropping all we have constructed as imperative allows us to be born again into the simplicity of the spirit that arises from unencumbered being.
Because she competes with no one, no one can compete with her.
Tao Te Ching
The stuff of our lives doesn't change. It is we who change in relation to it.
Being what you are is the simplest; what is difficult is to stop being what you are not.
Mooji
Happiness is when what we think, what we say, and what we do are in harmony — in harmony with the here & now, with reality.
The greatest struggle of all is the struggle not to struggle.
Be interested, not interesting.
Judo proverb
Open to the feeling — there is no use in resisting it. Like water in a hose, the water needs to come out. Drop the labels and become curious about the experience, about the sensations, without story attached. Just sensation, no resistance. Allow it to build the way it wants to. It will build, it will move, and it will be naturally released, if we get out of the way. Open, allow, it will naturally pass. Wu wei — action by inaction.
Charles Freligh
Just stay at the center of the circle, and let all things take their course.
Tao Te ChingThere is no other way for the water of your mind to become completely still, than simply for you yourself to become completely still.
Breathing out — releasing the feeling of pressure; the feeling that you need to do something or be something in order to be OK. Breathing in the fullness of simply who and what you are. You are already complete.
If you want to become full, let yourself be empty. Because she has no goal in mind, everything she does succeeds.
Tao Te Ching
Whenever I feel tight, defensive, controlling energy, this is me fighting against the current. This is me pushing back, trying to swim upstream. And it presents me with an opportunity to let go; to release the closed fist into an open hand. I can open my hand and then face the situation — clearly, with calm, with compassion. Whatever it is, I can ground myself in the Tao and do nothing at first. I must be willing to let go of control completely. Truly.
Charles Freligh
"I received life when the time came, and I'll give it back when the time comes. Anyone who understands the proper order of things — that everything happens at exactly the right time — will be untouched by sorrow or joy. That's why I have no complaint whatsoever."
Tao parable
You do not have to apologize for your clarity.
If you let yourself be blown to and fro, you lose touch with your root. If you let restlessness move you, you lose touch with who you are.
Tao Te Ching
When you reach the other shore, you realize there is no other shore.
What gets in the way IS the way. We must love whatever blocks us.
Mark Nepo
Can you let yourself be now the you you are becoming?
To know yourself is to forget yourself. And to forget yourself is to be awakened by all things.
Don't chase after people's approval. Don't depend on your plans. Don't make decisions; let decisions make themselves. Receive what you have been given and know that it is always enough.
Tao Te ChingTo really, genuinely try is, in itself, to succeed.
Because she believes in herself, she doesn't try to convince others. Because she is content with herself, she doesn't need others' approval. Because she accepts herself, the whole world accepts her.
Tao Te Ching
Thus the Master lives in perfect serenity, arms open to whatever life brings him, whereas the unaware person walks on the edge of danger, continually trying to keep one step ahead of his fate.
Tao Te Ching
Slow the momentum until you stop the wheel of your life so you can truly start from here.
Charles Freligh
"I hate what you do, and I love you. I see that I would be you, if I had lived your life. I hate what you do, but I don't hate you. In fact, I love you."
Martin Luther King Jr.
If you realize you have enough, you are truly rich.
Tao Te ChingRelease the tight grip of your small, separate self — and be awakened by everything.
Like a newborn baby, I don't need to be something in order to exist. I just am. I am.
No longer self-conscious; a conscious self.
Drop all the labels, all the stories. My identity is here. The present moment. I am here. I am.
Full acceptance of what is. When I embrace reality first without wanting it to be different, this enables the potential for change.
Charles Freligh
When we get caught up in wanting things to be other than they are, that is when we experience suffering.
All the suffering there is in this world arises from wishing ourselves to be happy. All the happiness there is in this world arises from wishing others to be happy.
The limiting ideas we hold about ourselves, others, everything — can be unlearned. We don't end suffering, we end the fixation on what brings us suffering — through mindfulness.
When we take the time to look at the way we see things, the way we see things changes.
When there is no desire, all things are at peace.
Tao Te Ching
Reactivity limits our ability to accept. Reactivity limits our ability to respond, rather than react.
Her mind is always at ease, because she doesn't believe that reality should be different than it is, right now.
Tao Te ChingDoes the universe seem unfriendly or neutral? It's only because you're seeing it that way.
Healed people heal people.
The master views the parts with compassion because he understands the whole. His constant practice is humility. He doesn't glitter like a jewel but lets himself be shaped by the Tao, as rugged and common as a stone.
Tao Te Ching
Entrepreneurship is less exciting than the adventure of discovering what is enough. How fine life becomes when what you want is exactly what you have!
Stephen Mitchell
The three poisons: attachment, aversion, ignorance. The antidote: generosity/gratitude, compassion, wisdom.
Buddhist teaching
Ignorance is really the root of everything. It's not about lacking information — it's about failing to see reality as it actually is. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom — clarity about how things actually are.
Secular BuddhismThe antidote to attachment is gratitude or generosity. Rather than constantly chasing and grasping, gratitude shifts us toward appreciating what's already here. It breaks the cycle of wanting.
Secular Buddhism
The antidote to aversion is loving-kindness or compassion. Our peace comes not from the absence of challenges, but from our ability to meet them with understanding and compassion.
Secular Buddhism
None can do me harm nor implicate me in ugliness. No one can touch my mind unless I let them.
Marcus Aurelius
If you have no wound on your hand, you can touch poison without being harmed.
The great way is not complicated, just don't have preferences.
Zen path — life beyond attachment to preference
Give up wanting to be important. Let your footsteps leave no trace.
Tao Te ChingIf a man is crossing a river and an empty boat collides with his own boat, he won't get offended or angry. But if the boat is manned, he may flare up. Realize that all boats are empty as you cross the river of the world, and nothing can possibly offend you.
The Second Book of Tao
Can I slow down the rush to get to the end, and remember wonder?
The point of all spiritual practice is to see through the illusion of separateness. All suffering extends out from the illusion of separateness. Slow down the momentum long enough to remember the natural feeling of oneness.
The map is not the territory!
Just this.
You can never have enough of what won't satisfy you.
As we see it, so it is. Once you realize that for every thought you believe, the opposite is equally true, there's no way you can get stuck.
The Second Book of Tao
We must step into what we fear and, in so doing, disperse its hold on us.
Fame or integrity: which is more important? Money or happiness: which is more valuable? Success or failure: which is more destructive? Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
Tao Te Ching, chapter 44
Ego isn't a thing, it's a verb; the pushing away of what is.
Adyashanti
Faith can be defined as the effort to believe in light when we're covered by clouds, and though it feels like the sun will never come again, the truth is, it has never stopped burning its light.
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.
The master allows things to happen. She steps out of the way, and allows the Tao to speak for itself.
Tao Te Ching
Our assumptions about the world become our world. Let go of all assumptions and the world will make perfect sense.
The Second Book of Tao
We can never be prepared for everything. No one person can anticipate all of life. In fact, over-preparation is yet another way to wall ourselves in from life. Rather, we can only prepare for how we might respond to the gift of surprise.
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
Unchain yourself from achievement and enjoy an ordinary life. Flow like the Tao, unhindered, unnoticed, unnamed, with no goals, no expectations. Be like a child, like a fool. Know that there is nothing to know. This is the direct way to freedom.
The Second Book of Tao
All that we could hope for is here. We lack nothing.
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
In the narrative of my separate story, every day something is added. But in the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped. Just release what is false.
In any moment, you're either feeding your story self or your present self.
You learn who you're supposed to be, and meditation is remembering who you are.
Just drop the false, allow the Tao, and trust the rest.
You cannot fix what is external if not coming from a grounded, centered place. You cannot facilitate true balance externally if you are not coming from internal balance.
Charles Freligh
The answer is found by remaining at the level of the question.
Life is not fair, but unending in its capacity to change us. Compassion is fair and feeling is just. We are not responsible for all that befalls us, only for how we receive it and for how we hold each other up along the way.
Mark Nepo, The Book of AwakeningThe mind's worst disease: the endless deciding between want and don't want, the endless war between for and against.
Mark Nepo
He lets all things come and go effortlessly, without desire. He never expects results; thus he is never disappointed.
Tao Te Ching
The Master examines her innermost self. She notices even the smallest sign of discord, and corrects it before it can do any harm. Since she knows that a feeling of discord can only be caused by a prior thought, she questions the thought. When the mind is transparent, the heart is transparent.
The Second Book of Tao
Wealth is the number of things one can do without.
Dostoyevsky
Life is like music; but we are always pressing fast-forward or rewind to feel a sense of control over it. We are missing the experience of the music, the experience of life. When you realize you cannot control it because you are it, you naturally let go and experience the song.
Charles Freligh
Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know.
Tao Te ChingDeparting from the Tao can happen only in the mind; it's an illusion that becomes our reality. Though we actually live in what is, we think ourselves into what isn't.
The Second Book of Tao
There's nothing wrong with sorrow, anger, longing, or fear; a painful emotion is just a signal that you've left the center. Living in harmony with the way things are, the mind finds its center everywhere, its circumference nowhere.
The Second Book of Tao
The way you do anything is the way you do everything.
The mind desperately wants it to be more complicated. The truth is beyond complication. It is incredibly, incomprehensibly simple.
Charles Freligh
"The greatest trick they ever played on us, was convincing us that things are supposed to make sense."
Alan Watts
Five Daily Guidelines in Zen: Consume Mindfully. Practice Generosity. Cultivate Loving Relationships. Practice Authentic Communication. Respect for Life.
Zen teachingWhen we're trapped in dualism, we're constantly comparing, judging, and trying to get more of what we label "good" and avoid what we label "bad." Non-duality dissolves that gap. The concept of suchness — just allowing things to be as they are without the overlay of judgment.
Secular Buddhism
The enlightened mind is like water — that clearly reflects on its surface whatever is here. It doesn't add to it, it doesn't push it away, it doesn't hold onto it. It simply reflects. Just reflecting what's here.
The universe naturally acts for its own benefit. So when you identify as the universe, the universe acts for you.
She lets the confused stay confused if that is what they want, and is always available to those with a passion for the truth. She sees the world endlessly changing and never wants it to be different from what it is.
The Second Book of Tao
Whatever the self describes, describes the self.
The Second Book of Tao
When she runs into a difficulty, she stops and gives herself to it. She doesn't cling to her own comfort; thus problems are no problem for her.
Tao Te ChingThus, when the mind is open and free of its own thoughts, life unfolds effortlessly.
The Second Book of Tao
They received life as a gift and handed it back gratefully.
The Second Book of Tao
The Master remains peaceful in the midst of continual change. There is nothing that can disturb her, nothing that she finds unacceptable. She welcomes all beings, watches as they come and go, and stays rooted in what is real.
The Second Book of Tao
I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and in thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.
Tao Te Ching, chapter 67
She no longer believes any thoughts about what should be, so she is perfectly comfortable with what is.
The Second Book of Tao
Tragedy stays alive by feeling what's been done to us. While peace comes alive by living with a result.
Mark Nepo, The Book of AwakeningWe somehow grow from the soil of our mistakes. And often in the process, the things we refuse to let go of are somehow forced from our grip.
Mark Nepo
She's in love with what is, whatever form it may take.
The Second Book of Tao
When you argue with reality you lose. It has always been this way.
The awareness of death activates life.
Story feeds on story. The story self feeds on story. And it desires to become inflamed, even if this causes its suffering. The present self has no story about reality, is not separate from reality, it just is reality. Nothing pulled in, nothing pushed away, nothing added. No inflammation. Just a clear reflection of what is here.
Charles Freligh
The Master's mind is like a mirror: it responds but doesn't store, contains nothing, excludes nothing, and reflects things exactly as they are. Thus she has what she wants and wants only what she has.
The Second Book of TaoClichés are just profound truths that have been drained of emotion.
Michael Pollan
At ease with herself, she puts everyone else at ease.
Tao Te Ching
When you have what you want — when you are what you want — there's no impulse to seek anything outside yourself. Seeking is the movement away from the awareness that your life is already complete, just as it is. Even at moments of apparent pain, there's never anything wrong or lacking. Reality is always kind; what happens is the best thing that could happen.
Byron Katie, A Thousand Names for Joy