Andrew Furst > Quotes

“Look for the heart of a tradition in the actions of its humble servants and selfless teachers. Listen and let the teachings be borne out, or set aside, based on your experience.”
― Andrew Furst, Western Lights: A Collection of Essays on Buddhism

“If we are looking to employ logic to infer a deity, we fall into absurdity.”
― Andrew Furst, Western Lights: A Collection of Essays on Buddhism

“As we adopt routines over spontaneity, the scales shift off of zero. We live less in the precious world of unfolding experience and more in our heads.”
― Andrew Furst, Western Lights: A Collection of Essays on Buddhism

“Indeed, there is something to learn from the openness of children. The immediacy of their pleasure and their emotional authenticity reveals a certain purity that’s lacking in adults.”
― Andrew Furst, Western Lights: A Collection of Essays on Buddhism

“When we meditate we are dancing with each moment. Just like the very first dance we remember: We are self-conscious, but eager. We hope for a connection, but we’re cautious of intimacy.”
― Andrew Furst, Western Lights: A Collection of Essays on Buddhism

“Enlightenment, the great mysterious state of mind, is contentment, or freedom from suffering. How then do we measure happiness? We measure it in smiles, in the openness of our hearts, in generosity, in gratitude and compassion towards others, and in the steadiness of our contentment.”
― Andrew Furst, Western Lights: A Collection of Essays on Buddhism

“Separating the God question from Buddhism does not make Buddhists atheists—within silence lies mystery. That doesn’t mean, however, we should infer from this acknowledgement of the mystery a nod one way or another on the matter of the divine.”
― Andrew Furst, Western Lights – A Collection of Short Essays on Buddhism

“When we sit in meditation, we are closer than usual to the world as it is. By simply bringing body, breath, and mind together in the present moment, we touch Buddha; we touch reality, and we are in the world as it is. Most people’s experience in this state is peaceful and rejuvenating.”
― Andrew Furst, Western Lights – A Collection of Short Essays on Buddhism