The Buddha at Work's "Working for the Weekend" quote for 12/10/10

"The problem with being busy is that it is based on ignorance—not realizing that by keeping your mind occupied constantly you are actually not giving yourself a chance. We even put an activity in our life, called meditation, where you practice not being busy. Think about it. It’s actually genius. You have added another thing on top of everything else you do, but you are pulling the plug for a period of time every day—so it actually has a reverse effect of opening up and creating space. So you are just going to be more busy now! But this is good, especially in Western culture. People put meditation on their To Do lists. This is something I tell my students: 'If you don’t put meditation on the top of your To Do list, it will be at the bottom, and it won’t happen.' I find that if meditation is not the first priority of my day it won’t happen. You know if I am foolish enough to say, 'Well, I have to make this phone call, check my email…,' then it’s over. Finished. 'I’ll do it later.' It never happens. Look at your life and ask, 'Am I being honest with myself? Is it really true that I don’t have time?'"

- Dr. Reggie Ray