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Sylvia Boorstein Quotes

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Sylvia Boorstein is an American author born in 1936. Her works mainly revolve around Buddhist philosophy and spiritual growth, which are highly appreciated by readers.

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All Mind Compassion Feels Ifs Mindfulness Needs Pain People Suffering Thinking Moments Response Happenings Looks World Balanced Clarity Complicated Happens Heart

Famous Sylvia Boorstein Quotes

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

Mind Compassion Protect Painful Affliction Benevolence Steadfast

Book:Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life

Source: Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life

“Being silent for me doesn't require being in a quiet place and it doesnt mean not saying words. It means, "receiving in a balanced, noncombative way what is happening." With or without words, the hope of my heart is that it will be able to relax and acknowledge the truth of my situation with compassion.”

Way Heart Mean Able Compassion Situation My Heart Quiet Happenings Silent Acknowledge Relax Receiving Balanced Quiet Place

Author:Sylvia Boorstein

“The voice of Thich Nhat Hanh-friendly, patient, steadfast, confident, contemporary, and often witty-seems, to me, an intermediary big brother talking directly to me on every page saying, 'Look! It's right there in you,' the very wisdom that leads to compassion.”

Looks Bigs Seems Voice Talking Compassion Brother Pages Patient Witty Contemporary Friendly Steadfast Thich Nhat Hanh

Author:Sylvia Boorstein

“The path of compassion leads to the development of insight. But it doesn't work to say, "Ready, set, go! Be compassionate!" Beginning any practice depends on intention. Intention depends on intuiting-at least a little bit-the suffering inherent in the human condition and the pain we feel, and cause, when we act out of confusion. It also depends on trusting-at least a little bit-in the possibility of a contented, satisfied mind.”

Source: Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness

“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]”

People Thinking Wells Mean Happens Action Compassion Depends Deserve Karma Things Happen Bad Things Good People Heirs Contention Bad Things Happen What You Deserve

Book:Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life

Source: Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life

“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]”

Mind Enough Felt Compassion Happenings Response Appreciation Internals Relaxed Goodwill Friendliness

Author:Sylvia Boorstein

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

Needs Said Two Compassion Balance Bird Wings Dharma Wings To Fly

Book:Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness

Source: Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness

“What if someone hurts you with a weapon? Wait. Think it over. You probably feel angry. That's normal. But wasn't it the stick striking your body that hurt you? Can you be angry at the stick? Of course not. Should you be angry at the wielder of the stick? Wouldn't it make more sense to be angry at the hatred in the mind of the stick wielder? If you think about it, isn't the end of hatred in the world what you want most of all? Why, then, would you add to it by giving energy to your anger? After all, it will pass on its own if left alone, especially if you respond to it with compassion.”

Source: Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness

“It is our own pain, and our own desire to be free of it, that alerts us to the suffering of the world. It is our personal discovery that pain can be acknowledged, even held lovingly, that enables us to look at the pain around us unflinchingly and feel compassion being born in us. We need to start with ourselves.”

World Needs Feels Looks Pain Desire Suffering Born Compassion Discovery

Book:Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness

Source: Pay Attention, for Goodness' Sake: Practicing the Perfections of the Heart--The Buddhist Path of Kindness