Sylvia Boorstein Quotes - Page 2

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• My father . . . used to say, 'I need my anger. It obliges me to take action.' I think my father was partly right. Anger arises, naturally, to signal disturbing situations that might require action. But actions initiated in anger perpetuate suffering. The most effective actions are those conceived in the wisdom of clarity.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Father, Thinking, Suffering

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• Concentration and mindfulness are the internal ways in which the mind restores itself from being out of balance and lost in confusion to a condition of ease, clarity, and wisdom. No external action needs to happen.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Confusion, Mind, Balance

  Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. (2008). “Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life”, p.14, Ballantine Books

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• I think a lot about Big Mind-Small Mind, expansive, wide-lens consciousness and contracted, introverted consciousness. I have moments-we all do-when just being alive is a pleasure and a miracle. They feel like moments when the shutters of the mind are open so I can look out. It also feels as if those same shutters have no hooks to fix them in an open position. One small wind and bang-they slam shut.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Thinking, Wind, Miracle

  Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. (2007). “Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness”, p.20, Ballantine Books

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• Steadfast benevolence, sustained by the wisdom that anything other than benevolence is painful, protects the mind from all afflictions.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Compassion, Mind, Affliction

  Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. (2008). “Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life”, p.13, Ballantine Books

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• When people ask the Dalai Lama, "Is Buddhism a religion?" he answers, "Yes, it is." Then they ask, "What kind of religion is it?" He responds, "My religion is kindness." You might think, "Everyone's is." Everyone's is. That's true. It's not complicated to describe the goal of a spiritual life. It's easier than you think to explain it. It's more difficult than you can imagine to do it.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Spiritual, Kindness, Buddhism

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• Heir to your own karma doesn't mean 'You get what you deserve.' I think it means 'You get what you get.' Bad things happen to good people. My happiness depending on my action means, to me, that it depends on my action of choosing compassion--for myself as well as for everyone else--rather than contention. [p.61]

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Karma, Mean, Thinking

  Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. (2008). “Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life”, p.40, Ballantine Books

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• We have moments of such clarity, of such appreciation of the incredible web of interconnected events that carry us from breath to breath, day to day, as long as we live-and the next moment we fret about how much we weigh. Or who we didn't send a Valentine. Or who forgot to compliment the dinner. Or whatever.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Appreciation, Valentine, Long

  Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. (2007). “Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness”, p.20, Ballantine Books

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• I want to feel deeply, and whenever I am brokenhearted I emerge more compassionate. I think I allow myself to be brokenhearted more easily, knowing I won't be irrevocably shattered [p. 59]

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Thinking, Knowing, Want

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• The Buddha taught complete honesty, with the extra instruction that everything a person says should be truthful and helpful.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Honesty, Taught, Helpful

  Sylvia Boorstein (1995). “It's easier than you think: the Buddhist way to happiness”, HarperOne

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• My redeemer is always the person next to me.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Gratitude, Next, Persons

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• Buddha also said that the Dharma, like a bird, needs two wings to fly, and that the wing that balances Wisdom is compassion.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Compassion, Wings, Two

  Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. (2007). “Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness”, p.75, Ballantine Books

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• People are realizing that what seemed important to them in their lives-materialism and consumerism-doesn't work at all to make a happy heart. It actually makes an unhappy heart. And an unhappy world.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Heart, People, Important

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• The Buhha was a monastic, but the practice of mindfulness in the context of any lifestyle is one of renunciation. Every moment of mindfulness renounces the reflexive, self-protecting response of the mind in favor of clear and balanced understanding. In the light of the wisdom that comes from balanced undertanding, attachment to having things be other than what they ar falls away.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Truth, Fall, Light

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• I understood that the teacher was not eing dismissive, that the problem would be addressed. But, without extra upset. A noncombative response, the Buddha taught, assures that pain does not become suffering. And, unclouded by the tension of struggle, the mind is able to assess clearly and respond wisely.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Teacher, Pain, Struggle

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• When we are relaxed and reasonable content, we are naturally wise. We accept that life is unpredictable, unreliable. We say jokingly or philosophically, "Nothing is sure except death and taxes," or "God willing and the creek don't rise," reminding each other that, notwithstanding the level of planning, we are continually dealing with being surprised. We get startled. We recover. We are disappointed. We adjust. Mostly-with Wisdom intact-we manage.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Wise, Wisdom, Levels

  Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. (2007). “Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness”, p.69, Ballantine Books

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• Dedication to goodness-dedication in response to an inner moral mandate rather than external restraint-was both the antidote to the pain and the source of great happiness.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Pain, Dedication, Moral

  Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. (2007). “Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness”, p.11, Ballantine Books

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• The responses of friendliness, compassion, and appreciation that I felt ...--all situational permutations of basic goodwill--depended on my mind's being relaxed and alert enough to notice both what was happening around me and what was happening as my internal response. [p.50]

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Appreciation, Compassion, Mind

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• Clearly the path of mitzvot is a form of meditation. The intention to act impeccably requires complete dedication and unwavering attention. I was also impressed with LUzzato's insistence that mitzvot practice is joyful.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Dedication, Practice, Meditation

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• All losses are sad. The end of an important relationship is also a death. When people fall out of love with each other, or when what seemed like a solid friendship falls into ruin, the hope for a shared future--a hope that provided a context and a purpose to life--is gone. [p. 149]

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Falling In Love, Loss, Important Relationships

  Sylvia Boorstein, Ph.D. (2008). “Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life”, p.93, Ballantine Books

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• His response is more than sensible. It reflects his understanding that evens unfold as a refelction of precise karmic order and that a benevolent response in all circumstances will be the most healing one. I think he is so universally admired becuase he exemplifies by his behavior the truth that the essence of natural mind, unclouded by greed or anger or delusion, is that of peace.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Peace, Healing, Thinking

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• The prohibition of L'shon Hara is the Jewish equivalent of the Buddhist practice of Right Speech.

  Sylvia Boorstein

  Buddhist, Practice, Speech

  "Buddhist Teacher Meditates on Return to Judaism" by Rebecca Radner, www.sfgate.com. February 13, 1997.

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