As of January 3, 2026, Quotes of Wisdom daily quotations blog will end. The blog began over five years ago, slowly grew, and has been shared throughout the world. Working with the quotes over this period, I appreciate the magnitude of teachings that Rinpoche adopted for the West and the world. Throughout his books I  found profound insights and compassion that made me pause, feel deeply, take a deep breath, wonder, question my assumptions, untie knots of confusion, laugh and reflect. 

Selecting quotations from his books became effortless; sharing Quotes became a joy.

We all may have different ways of learning and growing.  Quotes appealed to me and I became an enthusiastic advocate for the way Quotes instantly opens hearts and minds. 

You know when a quote hits home, you feel it.

Quotes offer a particular form of beauty like art, music, poetry, or dance. All resonate with a ring of ineffable authenticity.

Quote books are filled with wisdom and compassion. Read them often for support, guidance and encouragement. 

With appreciation and gratitude,

Barry Schieber

Quote books available through Dharma Publishing. (Dharmapublishing.org):

Quotes – Quotes II (More Quotes) – Quotes III (More Quotes)  – Quotes Companion (For reading to children and school classes) – Quiet Moment Collection (4 booklets: Breath, Compassion, Inspiration and Contemplation)

Be kind and pleasant to others;

Appreciate the world your senses reveal;

Develop inner calm;

Consider your actions and undertake them with great care.

Keys of Knowledge

Daily exercises for developing presence and relaxation.

The key to natural protection from emotional stress and tension is mindfulness of the breath.

Mindfulness is not forceful control, but an attentive awareness of what is occurring. When we remain quiet and observe the flow of the breath, the body and mind naturally release the energy stored in tension from its dense and solid forms. Liberated, this energy increases vitality and clarity and strengthens our ability to defuse pressures. Instead of being caught up in a cycle of escalating pressure, we can develop an abiding peace and clarity that grow from within. 

Day 31 – Living Life in the Breath Exercise

Practice this even breathing for 20 to 30 minutes every day for at least 3 months. Then continue to practice this breathing whenever you can throughout the day, whether you are working, walking, or talking, and even during the night, when you are awaken. Perform this breathing exercise in the sitting position, or, as an alternative, while lying down on your back—either with your legs straight or with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.

Instructions:

Sitting or lying comfortably, breathe softly and slowly through both nose and mouth. Gently pay attention to your breathing, ensuring that the breath flows equally through both nose and mouth. Give equal time to inhaling and exhaling.

Pay attention to the quality of your breathing: is it hard, choppy, agitated, deep? Notice how different qualities of breathing relate to different mental and feeling states, and how your mind begins to settle and feelings to flow as your breathing becomes easier and more even.

As you breathe, open feelings of relaxation as wide as you can. Unite your awareness with your breathe and expand any sensations that arise until you no longer know where the boundaries of your body lie; you can sense only feeling and the subtle energy that rides the breath.

As superfluous muscle tensions dissolve you will be able to penetrate different layers of feeling and you will become familiar with many subtle feeling-tones, although you may not necessarily have words to describe them. Allow these feeling tones to expand so that they become even deeper more vast.

Be patient and practice daily

Daily exercises for developing presence and relaxation

Actually realizing that all experience is transitory, that whatever we seek will elude us, can be very frightening, even threatening. Change is upsetting, and the idea of constant change is perhaps more disturbing than we care to think about. We want our world to be at least partially solid and stable, something we can depend upon. We do not see if any part of our existence were fixed or solid, it would actually pose a great obstacle. For change is what allows growth and development. Transitoriness is not a threat at all; it is instead the opening to new horizons.

Day 26 – Sky Breath Exercise

This exercise is especially nice to do outside if the weather permits. Sit comfortably on a cushion or a chair or you can do this lying down on your back if you prefer. Relax the body and become aware of your breath, lightly noticing your inhale and exhale.

Now, imagine a beautiful place far away from where you are, with a beautiful clear blue sky. It might be some place you have been in the past, or perhaps a place you have always wanted to visit—a beach or a mountaintop, a lakeshore or a meadow. As you bring this place to mind, let each breath come from that distant sky, and each exhale return there, connecting you to that distant clear blue spaciousness.

That’s all.

There is nothing else you need to do, simply breathe! 

Practice 20 minutes

Daily exercises for developing presence and relaxation

Nobody is binding or restricting you.  You are free from the control of each and every regime.  The operation is in your hands and it is up to you to create the kind of journey you want. 

Day 25 – Treat Yourself Well Exercise

Suffering is bad enough. But it is also a sign that you are cheating yourself. If you have the opportunity for joy and inner peace, please don’t throw it away. Don’t replace your inner treasure with doubts, fears, and unhappiness. Your first priority is to treat yourself well.

You can counter the power of craving, attachment, and addiction by appreciating the good things you have done in your life and the way they made you feel. Stay close to your sense of what has value, and the distractions that pull you away from what you truly care about will not be able to take hold. 

20 minute practice:

Consider the good things you have done in your life.

How does it make you feel?

What do your truly care about?

What are your distractions?

Daily exercises for developing presence and relaxation

So makeup your mind to achieve what you want for your life and what actions you feel are important to accomplish. Once you have that goal, support it strongly and don’t give up. If you give up, who can help you again the next time? No one will encourage you unless you yourself are determined.

Who else really cares?

Day 24 – What’s Important Exercise 

It has more to do with pursuing our highest ideals and values. For instance, it might have to do with helping others – our family, our friends, our community – or making a contribution to humanity. It might have to do with advancing knowledge or creating beauty. Your values may be very different from someone else’s, and that is fine. But the question to ask is whether you are letting time go by in activities that have nothing to do with our own sense of what’s important. That’s what I mean by getting a good return on investment.

Breathe, reflect, breathe

Daily exercises for developing presence and relaxation

The deep relaxation and openness of meditation offer a different perspective on our thoughts and perceptions. Meditation shows that we do not need to grasp at some experiences and reject others. We can accept all experience, whether positive or negative. And this acceptance can lead to deep satisfaction, a heart appreciation of being alive. As our awareness and our response to living reflect the rich balance of meditation, our particular difficulties yield to a growing sense of confidence and enjoyment. A new mind arises, bearing a sense of lightness and calm that ripples throughout all our activities like laughter. 

Day 23 – Touching Body Energy Exercise

This exercise relieves tension in the back of the neck, the spine, and the back of the legs, and redistributes energy and feeling throughout the body. At the end of the exercise, sit quietly in the sitting posture for five to ten minutes.

Stand with your feet a comfortable distance apart, your back straight and your body balanced. Breathing softly through both nose and mouth, slowly raise your arms in front of you until they are overhead, with the palms facing forward.

Knees relaxed and straight but not locked, slowly and evenly arch forward from the waist, reaching out slightly with your arms. Your head, torso and arms should move together. Relax your neck muscles and release any tension in your chest, belly and lower energy centers. When your fingers approach the floor, stay down briefly, concentrating lightly on your back, Be very still. Slowly spread your fingers. Exhale fully, releasing tension from your belly so that the flow of energy is not blocked.

Breathing evenly and gently, rise very slowly, keeping your head between your arms. Focus on your throat as you do so — you may feel a sense of opening there. When you read an upright position, bend backward slightly. Keep your exhalations gentle and allow the front of your body to open, especially your belly, chest and throat.

Slowly straighten your neck and back, bringing your attention to the base of your skull. You may feel warmth there, or a general sense of connection and peace. Again bend forward as before, going gently and slowly as possible. Perform the exercise 3 or 9 times.

Daily exercises for developing presence and relaxation

When we remain quiet, mindful of breath in every moment, we can open a space between us and our thoughts, We might think of ourselves as observers of an interesting drama, able to see the colors and textures of our thoughts as they unfold, without feeling any obligation to respond. Relaxing our tendency to react to every thought and sensation helps to break the cycle of tensions. If we develop a more spacious, less pressured way of relating to our feelings and thoughts, we can restore our balance more quickly after any disturbance.

Day 22 – Relax and Release Exercise 

For this exercise, set aside 20 minutes or so in a place you do not know.

Go for a walk, or just sit quietly.

Let yourself appreciate the newness, the unknownness.

Anything could happen—but maybe nothing at all will happen.

Either way, you don’t need to have any expectations.

Just relax and release.

Let go. 

Daily exercises for developing presence and relaxation

Openness ultimately means compassion. The more open you let yourself be the more you will be able to communicate with friends, with family, with anyone. Rather than suppressing or trying to avoid your feelings, as much as you can open your heart, your feelings, your whole personality. Open to your deeper levels of feeling. You can do this by relaxation the key to meditation.

Day 7 – Compassion To All Beings Exercise

So try to visualize all the beings in the world—particularly those who have problems or who are experiencing pain. Especially remember your parents and friends, whether they are still alive or not, and then all others. Free yourself from selfish motivations and transform your problems and emotions into deep compassion toward all beings and all things in nature, so that the entire universe is flooded with compassion. Let this compassion radiate outward from every part of your body and let us together send our power and energy to all beings so that they may overcome their obstacles and become healthy and happy. 

Practice a long time

Daily exercises for developing presence and relaxation

Many people today emphasize staying in touch with the body, but that advice will not help much if we do not understand what the body is showing us. The body is not there to support our endless cycles of guilt and worry, our repetitive thoughts and plans and concerns. We think it is wise to plan things out to act on our own concerns. We tell ourselves that if we know how to worry, we will know how to make ourselves secure. But all that makes sense only as long as we base our lives on grasping. It all looks different if we ground ourselves in appreciation: if we acknowledge the beauty around us and the efforts that others have made to secure our well-being. 

Day 21 – Protect Your Potential Exercise

Take a moment to reflect on the people in your life who, one way or another, could not achieve their full potential. Consider what their lives might have been like if they had been able to commit to their best selves and bring them into being. Imagine the beauty and goodness they would have added to the world.

Now, make a list of your own inner aspirations, your dreams for yourself. Look at them carefully, and consider whether they are worth a deep investment of your time and energy.

If you are convinced, make yourself a promise in the memory of all your friends and loved ones who couldn’t make their aspirations come true, you will do better: you will not give up on yourself.

Daily exercises for developing presence and relaxation

Taking care of ourselves is not just another selfish act with a spiritual label. It is possible to give ourselves compassion without being motivated by self love, because grasping for satisfaction is very different from learning to care for ourselves. Without compassion, thoughts and actions are based on desire for egotistical or selfish gratification. But genuine compassion, the antidote to ego, arises from a humble and fearless attitude of openness and generosity.

Day 20 – Each Day Exercise

During the day, you can bring positive intentions into every interaction: a casual conversation, a telephone call, a meeting, a simple encounter with a stranger. Make it your intention to benefit everyone you come into contact with. You can do a lot with a smile, a few kind words, a thoughtful gesture, or a helpful way of seeing some situation in a more positive light. The next day, you can make more efforts in the same direction, vowing to improve. 

Begin today