Larry Rosenberg

“The cultivation of mindfulness is ultimately a matter of life and death, not in a scary way, but in the sense that we are always at risk, in every moment, for missing what is deepest and richest in our lives, the texture of the tapestry itself. We might say (every pun intended) that the richness lies right beneath our noses in any and every moment.”
― Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation

“Sometimes, especially when people are new to the practice, they say they’re bored with watching the breathing. I try to use this story to awaken their interest, but occasionally I have to resort to more extreme measures. One new meditator kept coming to interviews with a chronic lament, “The breath is so boring.” Finally I asked him if he’d ever heard of Brooklyn yoga. He said no. I told him to close his mouth tight and close off both nostrils with his fingers. We sat that way for some time until, finally, he let go of his nose and gasped for air. “Was that breath boring?” I said.”
― Larry Rosenberg, Breath by Breath: The Liberating Practice of Insight Meditation