Matthieu Ricard Quotes

The outer storm ceases the moment the inner storm ends, for they are the same storm.

Your inner world reflects your outer world.

I'm very sentimental and ambitious. I like to be relaxed and I like to live a peaceful existence, but that's very difficult considering I'm very neurotic. On the inside, I'm very chilled - but on the outside I'm a big mess of worry!

I'm not suffering from withdrawal symptoms. I would say that I have a balanced state of mind.

Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.

If a person's basic state of mind is serene and calm, then it is possible for this inner peace to overwhelm a painful physical experience. On the other hand, if someone is suffering from depression, anxiety, or any form of emotional distress, then even if he or she happens to be enjoying physical comforts, he will not really be able to experience the happiness that these could bring.

No matter how much you try and make your surroundings suitable for creativity, if the enviornment inside of you isn't creatively healthy then you won't be able to make the art you want. Being in tune with yourself and your inner truth, being at peace in there, is the best way to nurture your creativity. Then you can even make a bad enviornment a good one.

I realize I never stand out in a room unless I'm feeling balanced, centered and happy. It sounds really corny but it's very, very true.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

Every goal, every action, every thought, every feeling one experiences, whether it be consciously or unconsciously known, is an attempt to increase one's level of peace of mind.

Happiness is mental harmony; unhappiness is mental inharmony.

As a person, I don't feel insecure about most things in life. From relationships, friendships to work, I am quite at peace in my head.

We are all on a journey to mastering our inner peace.

Let a prince be guarded with soldiers, attended by councillors, and shut up in forts; yet if his thoughts disturb him, he is miserable.

There is no doubt that solitude is a challenge and to maintain balance within it a precarious business. But I must not forget that, for me, being with people or even with one beloved person for any length of time without solitude is even worse. I lose my center. I feel dispersed, scattered, in pieces. I must have time alone in which to mull over my encounter, and to extract its juice, its essence, to understand what has really happened to me as a consequence of it.

The Heart is the Capital of the Mind— The Mind is a single State— The Heart and the Mind together make A single Continent— One—is the Population— Numerous enough— This ecstatic Nation Seek—it is Yourself.

Paradise is within you, in your state of no-mind. And hell is also within you, in your very mind.

Then, without realizing it, you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day; of course, you achieve quite a lot in the course of time. Anyone can do this, it costs nothing and is certainly very helpful. Whoever doesn't know it must learn and find by experience that a quiet conscience makes one strong.

Pain is inevitable as long as you are identified with your mind.

If people have some sort of yearning, dissatisfaction or some itching irritability, then it might because they aren't looking in the right direction for a solution. They aren't looking within.

If you are not at peace with yourself then you cannot spread peace.

The self holds both a hell and a heaven.

Both heaven and hell are within us.

A more happy mind leads to quietness and clarity. And that clarity helps you have a greater capacity to do more and to become more successful and more giving.

I was creative before I started meditating, but I had, looking back, a weakness. I wasn't self-assured. I had a little bit of melancholy. I had a lot of anger for my situations in life, and I would take this out on my first wife.