Stabilizing our mind any time of the day or night is like taking a mineral bath. It dissolves our stress and revitalizes us. As we anchor our mind to the breath, we feel grounded, strong, and clear. Our hassles slide away, because we're connecting with a deeper stream of energy.

When the wind stops blowing, the world feels peaceful.

True love is the natural energy of our settled mind.

- Sakyong Mipham

from Ruling Your World, p. 100-101

I lounge on the grass, that's all. So

simple. Then I lie back until I am

inside the cloud that is just above me

but very high, and shaped like a fish.

Or, perhaps not. Then I enter the place

of not-thinking, not-remembering, not-

wanting. When the blue jay cries out his

riddle, in his carping voice, I return.

But I go back, the threshold is always

near. Over and back, over and back. Then

I rise. Maybe I rub my face as though I

have been asleep. But I have not been

asleep. I have been, as I say, inside

the cloud, or, perhaps, the lily floating

on the water. Then I go back to town,

to my own house, my own life, which has

now become brighter and simpler, some-

where I have never been before.

- Mary Oliver

"Six Recognitions of the Lord", #3

from the collection Thirst

Wandering time is positive. Don't think of new things, don't think of achievement, don't think of anything of the kind. Just think, "Where do I feel good? What is giving me joy?"

Take what comes and be where you like. What counts is being where you feel you're in your place.

- Joseph Campbell

from Reflections on the Art of Living, p. 69

So I've started being vigilant about watching my thoughts all day, and monitoring them. I repeat this vow about 700 times a day: "I will not harbor unhealthy thoughts anymore." Every time a diminishing thought arises, I repeat the vow. I will not harbor unhealthy thoughts anymore.

- Elizabeth Gilbert

from Eat, Pray, Love p. 178

neti, neti, neti

- yogic sense-withdrawl technique

["I am not this thought; I am not that thought; I am not thought." Insofar as you do not identify yourself with the stream of thoughts, you begin to realize the real you, the atma. This process is so simple to describe, so difficult to do, so important to master. You will realize through this procedure, while watching your thoughts, that they are not really you. This technique should be practiced for five minutes a day for three to nine weeks. It would be helpful to practice it for the rest of your life. You will, however, find major benefits within weeks, if not days.

This technique breaks the illusion, "I am the body," and "I am that which my mind thinks (I am)."]

- Goswami Kriyananda

from The Spiritual Science of Kriya Yoga

Snow Geese

Oh, to love what is lovely, and will not last!

What a task

to ask

of anything, or anyone,

yet it is ours,

and not by the century or the year, but by the hours.

One fall day I heard

above me, and above the sting of the wind, a sound

I did not know, and my look shot upward; it was

a flock of snow geese, winging it

faster than the ones we usually see,

and, being the color of snow, catching the sun

so they were, in part at least, golden. I

held my breath

as we do

sometimes

to stop time

when something wonderful

has touched us

as with a match

which is lit, and bright,

but does not hurt

in the common way,

but delightfully,

as if delight

were the most serious thing

you ever felt.

The geese

flew on.

I have never

seen them again.

Maybe I will, someday, somewhere.

Maybe I won't.

It doesn't matter.

What matters

is that, when I saw them,

I saw them

as through the veil, secretly, joyfully, clearly.

- Mary Oliver

from the collection Why I Wake Early, p. 34-35

Closing their eyes, steadying their breathing, and

focusing their attention on the center of spiritual

consciousness, the wise master their senses,

mind, and intellect through meditation. Self-

realization is their only goal. Freed from selfish

desire, fear, and anger, they live in freedom always.

- the Bhagavad Gita

from chapter 5, Eknath Easwaran's translation