10 Quotes From Famous People About Meditation

 There are a lot of misconceptions about meditation floating around. Some people see it as a physical activity while others see it as a form of mental practice. In truth, it is both. Meditation makes use of physical activities like breathing exercises to tap into both the brain and the nervous system to reduce fear and anxiety. 

The main function of meditating is to get you to a relaxed state so that you can focus and quiet your brain in even the most chaotic situations. Anyone can benefit from meditation provided they remember the lessons taught in these quotes from experts and famous personalities.

1. “Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger; and that is very healing. We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

This quote from poet, peace activist, and Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh gives us a fundamental understanding of how meditation can help anyone. The act of meditating works to heal us by tapping into core functions in each of us. Through the acceptance of negative emotions, we can heal. 

2. “At the end of the day, I can end up just totally wacky, because I’ve made mountains out of molehills. With meditation, I can keep them as molehills.” — Ringo Starr

British musician and former Beatles member Ringo Starr has spoken in the past about his experience with meditation. Stressful situations or embarrassing thoughts can send you into a spiral of negativity. Meditation can help in cutting off the whirlpool before it becomes a full-blown tornado of unwanted negative thoughts. 

3. “Meditation allows us to deal with life as it is rather than looking at it and comparing it with how we think it’s supposed to be.” — Jeff Kober

66-year-old American actor Jeff Kober, known for his roles in Sully (2016) and Sons of Anarchy (2009-2013) gives us his opinion on how meditation enables healing. Through meditation, we can view life from a realistic yet still positive perspective. When we constantly view life in terms of what we wanted, expected, or demanded, we tend to become overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, and disappointment. 

4. “The best way to meditate is through meditation itself.” — Ramana Maharshi

Ramana Maharishi was a Hindu sage from India that lived in the 19th and 20th century, who was known as a liberated being. His words are meant to specify the importance of meditating without any extra requirements. There may be stressful times when you forego meditating because you could not find the right place or perfect moment to do so. However, the act of meditating only requires you to meditate and all other factors are secondary. 

5. “The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.” — Confucius

Chinese philosopher Confucius is known for a great many wise quotes and insightful opinions on a wide variety of topics. However, these words specify the wide-scale impact that meditation can have. Focusing on good thoughts through meditation unleashes good energy into your everyday day life as well as the world itself. 

6. “If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. It means to think of something over and over.” — Joyce Meyer 

American author and prominent minister Joyce Meyer, from Missouri, gives numerous devotional speeches centered around hope, love, and outreach. She teaches us a very important lesson: Worry can be channeled into meditation. At the end of the day, worry requires focus as much as meditation does. However, worry makes use of negative emotions. 

7. “Everywhere I go, I still have time to meditate. People think meditating is sitting there, nobody bothering you, but you can even talk and still meditate.” — Jet Li 

Jet Li, an international actor, film producer, and renowned martial artist, reverberates the essence of Ramana Maharshi’s beliefs on meditation in his words. He addresses the obvious view most people have, that meditation requires absolute peace and silence to be done and one must be sitting in one place. Meditation is a practice of the mind, much like martial arts are a practice of the body. As you train, you can apply that practice anywhere. 

8. “Writing is a very focused form of meditation, just as good as sitting in a lotus position.” — Alan Moore 

English writer Alan Moore, who has contributed to successful comics like Watchmen (1986) and V For Vendetta (1988), speaks about the practice he uses to meditate, i.e., writing. There are numerous creative activities that can act as forms of meditation, like painting, sculpting, drawing, and even listening to music. These activities elicit a “flow-state” within you, increasing feelings of peace and creativity. 

9. “When you’re a kid, you lay in the grass and watch the clouds going over, and you literally don’t have a thought in your mind. It’s purely meditation, and we lose that.” — Dick Van Dyke

American writer, actor, and comedian, Dick Van Dyke points out the obvious: we were all natural-born meditators when we were children. Kids are excellent at meditation because they can easily remove the thoughts in their mind and focus on a single thing that gives them joy. We as adults need to return to practicing the instinctive meditation we did as children. 

10. “Half an hour’s meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.” — Saint Francis de Sales 

Saint Francis de Sales, 16th century Bishop of Geneva and honored saint of the Catholic Church, said these words that were centuries ahead of his time. It emphasizes the need to meditate being greater precisely at those times when you feel you have no time for yourself. It’s important to ensure you practice self-care and mindfulness even at the busiest times, as this will reduce your stress levels and enable you to complete your work more efficiently. 

Share these quotes with anyone that could benefit from meditation!