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Joan Tollifson Quotes

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Famous Joan Tollifson Quotes

“Rather than trying to paper over our suffering with comforting beliefs, this approach is about actually exploring directly what seems to be in the way of freedom, peace and happiness, what seems scary, dreadful and unbearable. It's one thing to believe that the tiger chasing you is only a mirage, and it's another thing entirely to actually turn around and embrace the tiger and find out for sure.”

“Habit has two parts, Toni [Packer] says. There is the habit itself (finger biting, smoking, drinking, whatever), and there is the observer who wants to stop, who is also a habit. And there is the conflict, the battle between the desire to indulge, which is an escape from what is, and the desire to stop, which is also a movement away from what is.”

“The concentration of a baby is alive wonderment. It is to that kind of organic interest, or passion, and awareness that Toni [Packer] seems to be pointing: listening that is not rote or methodical in any way. The baby has no sense yet of self-image, of itself as an object—a person—who needs to be improved, and Toni will question any meditation practice that contributes to such a picture.”