--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Meditation is not a means of forgetting…" description: "\"Meditation is not a means of forgetting the ego; it is a method of using the ego to observe and tame its own manifestations.\" — Mark Epstein" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/mark-epstein-15760_ego_meditation-is-not-a-means-of-forgetting_2866434.png" --- # Meditation is not a means of forgetting the ego; it is a… ![“Meditation is not a means of forgetting the ego; it is a method of using the ego to observe and tame its own manifestations.” quote by Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/mark-epstein-15760_ego_meditation-is-not-a-means-of-forgetting_2866434.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/mark-epstein-15760_ego_meditation-is-not-a-means-of-forgetting_2866434.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/mark-epstein-15760_ego_meditation-is-not-a-means-of-forgetting_2866434.png) > “Meditation is not a means of forgetting the ego; it is a method of using the ego to observe and tame its own manifestations.” [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Meditation uses the ego as a tool to observe and control its own impulses, not to erase it. **In simple terms:** Meditation helps you watch and manage your ego. Key Takeaway Observe ego to tame it. Themes mindfulness ego self‑awareness Mood calm introspective Type philosophical instructional When to use this quote - stress reduction - personal growth - therapy sessions Key Concepts psychology spiritual practice contemplation Questions to Reflect On - How can you practice observing your ego daily? - What ego patterns emerge in meditation? A Different Perspective Ego may resist observation; discipline required. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ego](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) [Manifestation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manifestation/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) ## Related quotes > [In Buddhist ideology, the conventional self is that which is constructed in a way by the use of the pronoun, and when you realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/in-buddhist-ideology-the-conventional-self-is-that-which-is/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [You have to put your ego aside as an actor. Or you're using your ego to tell the story. Your body is a part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliette-binoche/you-have-to-put-your-ego-aside-as-an-actor-or-you-re-using-your-ego/) [Juliette Binoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliette-binoche/) > [Nobody who's really using his ego, his real ego, has any time for any goddam hobbies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nobody-who-s-really-using-his-ego-his-real-ego-has-any-time-for-any/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In just a second, in just a second. You keep talking about ego. My God, it would take Christ himself to decide what’s ego…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/in-just-a-second-in-just-a-second-you-keep-talking-about-ego-my-god/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [Meditation is the means through which the Soul dictates and guides the mind for all good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/meditation-is-the-means-through-which-the-soul-dictates-and-guides/) [Maharishi Mahesh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/) > [This is what meditation means: how to be not identified with the mind - how to create a space between yourself and your own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/this-is-what-meditation-means-how-to-be-not-identified-with-the-mind/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Meditation means seeing God within you, and love is seeing God in the person next to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/meditation-means-seeing-god-within-you-and-love-is-seeing-god-in-the/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [Correct meditation means correctly understanding your situation moment by moment - what are you doing now? Only do it! Then, each action is complete;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seung-sahn/correct-meditation-means-correctly-understanding-your-situation/) [Seung Sahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seung-sahn/) > [Meditation is not a means to an end. It is both the means and the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/meditation-is-not-a-means-to-an-end-it-is-both-the-means-and-the-end/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Meditation means awareness. Whatsoever you do with awareness is meditation. Action is not the question, but the quality that you bring to your action.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/meditation-means-awareness-whatsoever-you-do-with-awareness-is/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Meditation means: put the mind aside and watch. The first step - LOVE YOURSELF - will help you tremendously. By loving yourself you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/meditation-means-put-the-mind-aside-and-watch-the-first-step-love/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Meditation means the mind is turned back upon itself. The mind stops all the thought-waves and the world stops. Your consciousness expands. Every time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/meditation-means-the-mind-is-turned-back-upon-itself-the-mind-stops/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Meditation means undoing what the society has done to you. It has reduced you to a machine; you have to de-automatise yourself, you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/meditation-means-undoing-what-the-society-has-done-to-you-it-has/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Meditation means you start changing your inner world. You start removing dust from the inner world, you start removing all that is unnecessary in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/meditation-means-you-start-changing-your-inner-world-you-start/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“If you can meditate, if you can create a little distance between your mind and your being, if you can see and feel and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osho/if-you-can-meditate-if-you-can-create-a-little-distance-between-your/) [Osho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osho/) ## More by Mark Epstein > [Anger is sign that something needs to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/anger-is-sign-that-something-needs-to-change/) [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) > [Anxiety and desire are two, often conflicting, orientations to the unknown. Both are tilted toward the future. Desire implies a willingness, or a need,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/anxiety-and-desire-are-two-often-conflicting-orientations-to-the/) [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) > [“the Buddha may well have been the original psychoanalyst, or, at least, the first to use the mode of analytic inquiry that Freud was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/the-buddha-may-well-have-been-the-original-psychoanalyst-or-at-least/) [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) > [The willingness to face traumas - be they large, small, primitive or fresh - is the key to healing from them. They may never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/the-willingness-to-face-traumas-be-they-large-small-primitive-or/) [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) > [One of the age-old truths about love is that while it offers unparalleled opportunities for union and the lifting of ego boundaries, it also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/one-of-the-age-old-truths-about-love-is-that-while-it-offers/) [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) > [The central premise of this book is that the Western psychological notion of what it means to have a self is flawed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/the-central-premise-of-this-book-is-that-the-western-psychological/) [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) > [“In making a path like the Buddha, we discover our own capacities for relationship. 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Mindfulness offers an opportunity to see these patterns clearly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/the-early-parent-child-environment-the-balance-between-being-and/) [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) > [If things do not exist as fixed, independent entities, then how can they die? Our notion of death as the sudden expiration of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/if-things-do-not-exist-as-fixed-independent-entities-then-how-can/) [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) > [There is a yearning that is as spiritual as it is sensual. Even when it degenerates into addiction, there is something salvageable from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/there-is-a-yearning-that-is-as-spiritual-as-it-is-sensual-even-when/) [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) > [In building a path through the self to the far shore of awareness, we have to carefully pick our way through our own wilderness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/in-building-a-path-through-the-self-to-the-far-shore-of-awareness-we/) [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) > [“With some gratitude, I realized that my awareness was now stronger than my neurosis. This did not mean that things would never go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/with-some-gratitude-i-realized-that-my-awareness-was-now-stronger/) [Mark Epstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) [Explore all 42 Mark Epstein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/) ## More Ego quotes > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangari-maathai/for-us-who-are-now-in-power-we-need-to-be-challenged-to-serve-the/) [Wangari Maathai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangari-maathai/) > [I love playing ego and insecurity combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carrey/i-love-playing-ego-and-insecurity-combined/) [Jim Carrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carrey/) > [“sometimes when everything seems at its worst when all conspires and gnaws and the hours, days, weeks years seem wasted – stretched there upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/sometimes-when-everything-seems-at-its-worst-when-all-conspires-and/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I'm a straight shooter, and most of the time my ego doesn't interrupt my relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-macht/i-m-a-straight-shooter-and-most-of-the-time-my-ego-doesn-t-interrupt/) [Gabriel Macht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-macht/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“There are two kinds of people: goal-oriented and ego-oriented. Goal-oriented people work together and get things gone. Ego-oriented people don’t work.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charbel-tadros/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-goal-oriented-and-ego-oriented-goal/) [Charbel Tadros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charbel-tadros/) > [Heart surgeons do not have the world's smallest egos: when you ask them to name the world's three leading practitioners, they never can remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/heart-surgeons-do-not-have-the-world-s-smallest-egos-when-you-ask/) [Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/) > [I hate acting when I see it. I don't want to feel it, I don't want to see it, I want to be taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutger-hauer/i-hate-acting-when-i-see-it-i-don-t-want-to-feel-it-i-don-t-want-to/) [Rutger Hauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutger-hauer/) > [It's a constant man-ego-check going on in the streets, in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/it-s-a-constant-man-ego-check-going-on-in-the-streets-in-this-world/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [“... a man doesn't like to have his ego popped, especially when he prides himself on his sagacity, and then to be proved wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-a-bucchianeri/a-man-doesn-t-like-to-have-his-ego-popped-especially-when-he-prides/) [E.A. Bucchianeri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-a-bucchianeri/) > [Our real nature is not our imaginary, limited ego. Our true nature is vast, all-comprehensive, and intangible as empty space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anagarika-govinda/our-real-nature-is-not-our-imaginary-limited-ego-our-true-nature-is/) [Anagarika Govinda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anagarika-govinda/) > [The man of wisdom is devoid of ego even though he may appear to use it. His vacant or fasting mind is neither doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramesh-s-balsekar/the-man-of-wisdom-is-devoid-of-ego-even-though-he-may-appear-to-use/) [Ramesh S Balsekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramesh-s-balsekar/) > [Show me success without ego!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivana-trump/show-me-success-without-ego/) [Ivana Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivana-trump/) [Browse all 3,462 Ego quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ego/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Meditation is not a means of forgetting the ego; it is a method of using the ego to observe and tame its own manifestations.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Epstein" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/meditation-is-not-a-means-of-forgetting-the-ego-it-is-a-method-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ego" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/meditation-is-not-a-means-of-forgetting-the-ego-it-is-a-method-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/mark-epstein-15760_ego_meditation-is-not-a-means-of-forgetting_2866434.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/mark-epstein-15760_ego_meditation-is-not-a-means-of-forgetting_2866434.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ef/mark-epstein-15760_ego_meditation-is-not-a-means-of-forgetting_2866434.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Meditation is not a means of forgetting the ego; it is a method of using the ego to observe and tame its own…” — Mark Epstein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mark Epstein", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-epstein/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Meditation is not a means of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/meditation-is-not-a-means-of-forgetting-the-ego-it-is-a-method-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-epstein/meditation-is-not-a-means-of-forgetting-the-ego-it-is-a-method-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```