When we let go of wanting ...

When we let go of wanting something else to happen in this moment, we are taking a profound step toward being able to encounter what is here now. If we hope to go anywhere or develop ourselves in any way, we can only step from where we are standing. If we don't really know where we are standing—a knowing that comes directly from the cultivation of mindfulness—we may only go in circles, for all our efforts and expectations. So, in meditation practice, the best way to get somewhere is to let go of trying to get anywhere at all.
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 Jon Kabat-Zinn

Quotes from the same author

You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.
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 Jon Kabat-Zinn
My father was a world-class scientist and my mother was a prolific painter. I could see that my parents had completely different ways of knowing and understanding the world, and relating to it. My father approached things through scientific inquiry and exploration, while my mother experienced things through her emotions and senses.
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 Jon Kabat-Zinn
Intelligence is the door to freedom and alert attention is the mother of intelligence.
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 Jon Kabat-Zinn
We call the effort to cultivate our ability to be in the present moment ‘practice’ or ‘meditation practice.’
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 Jon Kabat-Zinn
Concentration is a cornerstone of mindfulness practice. Your mindfulness will only be as robust as the capacity of your mind to be calm and stable. Without calmness, the mirror of mindfulness will have an agitated and choppy surface and will not be able to reflect things with any accuracy.
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 Jon Kabat-Zinn