Jake’s Reviews > Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-To Book > Status Update

“The definition of "compassion" in Buddhism is the intention that suffering be relieved. As my fellow CEC teacher and friend Avi Craimer says, "An intention is not a feeling, nor is it a plan." It is more like a simple wish, in this case for someone's hurt-i.e., your own -to diminish.”

“Appreciating the existential hilarity of sitting with your eyes closed in your living room, tripping out on the feeling of having a body”.

From “Enjoying the Body”

“Diff ways to connect with the enjoyment quality. Oxygen is filling you with vitality, for example. Or breathing is a massage for your insides. Or just that it feels good to be a large bipedal ape with an operational set of lungs”

Awareness = empty stage. Thinking = an actor who walks on stage. Along with hearing, tasting, touching, etc.

it's a zoo inside ur skull. the more you see all this clamor, the less likely u are to be controlled by it. U are no longer trapped inside your thoughts; you're momentarily stepping outside them, watching with a combination of horror and amusement and curiosity. The fact that humans can do this is astounding and probably should be taught in grade school, because it points to an inner geography that is fundamental.

Bro. When you say the very first guided meditation in the book is available on audio on your app for free, and then it’s not available for free (but actually $99), it feels like a scam. Seriously, left a bad fucking taste in my mouth. Tastes like grift.

"mindfulness meditation," which is derived from Buddhism but does not require adopting a belief system or declaring oneself to be a Buddhist. (In defense of Buddhism, by the way, it is often practiced not as a faith but as a set of tools to help people lead more fulfilled lives in a universe characterized by impermanence and entropy.

"Buddhism is not something to believe in, but rather something to do."