--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once, at a seminar, I heard a Westernized…" description: "\"Once, at a seminar, I heard a Westernized lama say that a meditator's state of mind should be like that of a hotel doorman. A doorman lets the guests i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d84/marc-ian-barasch-30476_appointments_once-at-a-seminar-i-heard-a-westernized_1449847.png" --- # Once, at a seminar, I heard a Westernized lama say that a… ![“Once, at a seminar, I heard a Westernized lama say that a meditator's state of mind should be like that of a hotel doorman. A doorman lets the guests in, but he doesn't follow them up to their rooms. He lets them out, but he doesn't walk into the street with them to their next appointment. He…” quote by Marc Ian Barasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d84/marc-ian-barasch-30476_appointments_once-at-a-seminar-i-heard-a-westernized_1449847.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d84/marc-ian-barasch-30476_appointments_once-at-a-seminar-i-heard-a-westernized_1449847.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d84/marc-ian-barasch-30476_appointments_once-at-a-seminar-i-heard-a-westernized_1449847.png) > “Once, at a seminar, I heard a Westernized lama say that a meditator's state of mind should be like that of a hotel doorman. A doorman lets the guests in, but he doesn't follow them up to their rooms. He lets them out, but he doesn't walk into the street with them to their next appointment. He greets them all, then lets them go on about their business. Meditation is, in its initial stages, simply accustoming oneself to letting thoughts come and go without grasping at their sleeves or putting up a velvet rope to keep them out.” [Marc Ian Barasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ian-barasch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Meditation should be practiced like a doorman: welcoming thoughts without clinging, allowing them to pass without interference. **In simple terms:** Let thoughts come and go without attachment. Key Takeaway Observe thoughts without engagement. Themes mindfulness acceptance detachment mental discipline Mood calm centered thoughtful Type instructional philosophical When to use this quote - stressful moments - creative work - emotional turbulence - daily routine Key Concepts non‑attachment awareness psychological flexibility Questions to Reflect On - What thoughts tend to linger for you? - How can you gently redirect focus? A Different Perspective Some may find it hard to stay present without judgment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comes and goes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes-and-goes/) [Hotel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hotel/) [Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lama/) [Letting go](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/letting-go/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Seminars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seminars/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) [State of mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state-of-mind/) [Streets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streets/) ## Related quotes > [Meditation means cleansing the mirror, dropping thoughts, letting thoughts disappear, attaining to moments when thinking ceases. And those are the most blissful moments in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/meditation-means-cleansing-the-mirror-dropping-thoughts-letting/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Why do you not do as I do? Letting go of your thoughts as though they were the cold ashes of a long dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/why-do-you-not-do-as-i-do-letting-go-of-your-thoughts-as-though-they/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [The only way you will ever awaken is through silence, not through analyzation of facts. Not by sorting out good and bad, but through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adams/the-only-way-you-will-ever-awaken-is-through-silence-not-through/) [Robert Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adams/) > [How can you work on letting your thoughts go and getting synchronized into the moment and questioning your wild imagination. But I say just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/how-can-you-work-on-letting-your-thoughts-go-and-getting-synchronized/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [Anything you are shows up in your music - jazz is whatever you are, playing yourself, being yourself, letting your thoughts come through.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-lou-williams/anything-you-are-shows-up-in-your-music-jazz-is-whatever-you-are/) [Mary Lou Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-lou-williams/) > [It's my own space, my own time, when I'm just out there letting my thoughts go. It's part of my day like eating, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-andrews-kent/it-s-my-own-space-my-own-time-when-i-m-just-out-there-letting-my/) [Louise Andrews Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-andrews-kent/) > [You begin by letting thoughts flow and watching them. The very observation slows down the mind till it stops altogether. Once the mind is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/you-begin-by-letting-thoughts-flow-and-watching-them-the-very/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [“I needed to stop letting my thoughts wander off on their own. They needed adult supervision, and”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-adair/i-needed-to-stop-letting-my-thoughts-wander-off-on-their-own-they/) [Bobby Adair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-adair/) > [There are things I don't like, like sitting at the head of the class. It makes me uncomfortable. I'll do it in a seminar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-beatty/there-are-things-i-don-t-like-like-sitting-at-the-head-of-the-class/) [Paul Beatty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-beatty/) > [I know a lot of people in the business recommend the many Story Structure seminars being offered here, but I point to them as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-wood/i-know-a-lot-of-people-in-the-business-recommend-the-many-story/) [Douglas Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-wood/) > [I believe that we can still have a genre of scientific books suitable for and accessible alike to professionals and interested laypeople. The concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-believe-that-we-can-still-have-a-genre-of-scientific-books-suitable/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Political journalists love graduate student intelligence, the ability to make clever allusions in seminars, and in 1999-2000 they hassled George W. Bush for not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-olasky/political-journalists-love-graduate-student-intelligence-the-ability/) [Marvin Olasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-olasky/) > [My seminars are for you. They are moments, hours and evenings outside of time. A chance, in a highly charged environment, to meditate, find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/my-seminars-are-for-you-they-are-moments-hours-and-evenings-outside/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I am devoting my lecture in this seminar to a discussion of the possibility that we are now entering a Jewish century, a time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-a-siegel/i-am-devoting-my-lecture-in-this-seminar-to-a-discussion-of-the/) Martin A. Siegel > [If you could distill this down to a single principle its that the best marketers in the world know MARKETS first and foremost, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perry-marshall/if-you-could-distill-this-down-to-a-single-principle-its-that-the/) [Perry Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perry-marshall/) ## More by Marc Ian Barasch > [We crave a world of either/or, but the Dream says, Both/and. 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She prefaced her question…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ian-barasch/a-friend-told-me-of-visiting-the-dalai-lama-in-india-and-asking-him/) [Marc Ian Barasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ian-barasch/) > [I used to think that people who regarded everyone benignly were a mite simple or oblivious or just plain lax-until I tried it myself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ian-barasch/i-used-to-think-that-people-who-regarded-everyone-benignly-were-a/) [Marc Ian Barasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ian-barasch/) > [The dark and the light are braided and bound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ian-barasch/the-dark-and-the-light-are-braided-and-bound/) [Marc Ian Barasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ian-barasch/) > [Our dreams disturb us because they refuse to pander to our fondest notions of ourselves. The closer one looks, the more they seem to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ian-barasch/our-dreams-disturb-us-because-they-refuse-to-pander-to-our-fondest/) [Marc Ian Barasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ian-barasch/) > [“I'll sometimes feel a warmth or ache in my chest and think that it's my heart shaking off it's torpor. I hear it murmuring;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ian-barasch/i-ll-sometimes-feel-a-warmth-or-ache-in-my-chest-and-think-that-it-s/) [Marc Ian Barasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ian-barasch/) > [Every now and then, I'll meet an escapee, someone who has broken free of self-centeredness and lit out for the territory of compassion. You've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ian-barasch/every-now-and-then-i-ll-meet-an-escapee-someone-who-has-broken-free/) [Marc Ian Barasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ian-barasch/) > [Unresolved emotional pain is the great contagion of our time — of all time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ian-barasch/unresolved-emotional-pain-is-the-great-contagion-of-our-time-of-all/) [Marc Ian Barasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ian-barasch/) > [Big dreams are risky business. The psyche can be fiendish, puckish, exalted, imperious, tender, sardonic, faithful, pestilential--whatever rivets our attention upon the task of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-ian-barasch/big-dreams-are-risky-business-the-psyche-can-be-fiendish-puckish/) [Marc Ian Barasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ian-barasch/) [Explore all 17 Marc Ian Barasch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-ian-barasch/) ## More Appointments quotes > [About one-half of the members of Congress are seekers for office at the nomination of the President. Of the remainder, at least one-half have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/about-one-half-of-the-members-of-congress-are-seekers-for-office-at/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [We're living in a time when parenting is not at all mirroring the way I was parented. For me, I just followed my parents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edie-falco/we-re-living-in-a-time-when-parenting-is-not-at-all-mirroring-the-way/) [Edie Falco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edie-falco/) > [Mayor De Blasio's appointment of Bill Bratton as police commissioner is the height of hypocrisy. Asking Bratton to stop racial profiling and stop and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barron/mayor-de-blasio-s-appointment-of-bill-bratton-as-police-commissioner/) Charles Barron > [When the purpose of the appointment to ,cohabit with the widow bas been attained in accordance with the law, those two shall behave towards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guru-nanak/when-the-purpose-of-the-appointment-to-cohabit-with-the-widow-bas/) [Guru Nanak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guru-nanak/) > [Prayer is a specific divine appointment, an ordinance of Heaven, whereby God purposes to carry out His gracious designs on earth and to execute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-mckendree-bounds/prayer-is-a-specific-divine-appointment-an-ordinance-of-heaven/) [Edward McKendree Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-mckendree-bounds/) > [Not by appointment do we meet Delight And Joy; they heed not our expectancy; But round some corner in the streets of life, They,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-massey/not-by-appointment-do-we-meet-delight-and-joy-they-heed-not-our/) [Gerald Massey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-massey/) > [First, there's the job - where the goal is simply to earn a living and support your family. Then there's the career - where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bella/first-there-s-the-job-where-the-goal-is-simply-to-earn-a-living-and/) Robert Bella > [I have become convinced that if God stands a child before you, for even just a minute, it is a divine appointment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wess-stafford/i-have-become-convinced-that-if-god-stands-a-child-before-you-for/) [Wess Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wess-stafford/) > [I have a sense of urgency, of time. 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You can enjoy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/people-are-amazed-to-realize-they-can-enjoy-the-moment-rather-than-be/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) Browse all 203 Appointments quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once, at a seminar, I heard a Westernized lama say that a meditator's state of mind should be like that of a hotel doorman. A doorman lets the guests in, but he doesn't follow them up to their rooms. He lets them out, but he doesn't walk into the street with them to their next appointment. He greets them all, then lets them go on about their business. 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