--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What's encouraging about meditation is…" description: "\"What's encouraging about meditation is that, even if we shut down, we can no longer shut down in ignorance. We see very clearly that we're closing off...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/793/pema-ch-dr-n-327_ignorance_what-s-encouraging-about-meditation-is-t_1793195.png" --- # What's encouraging about meditation is that, even if we… ![“What's encouraging about meditation is that, even if we shut down, we can no longer shut down in ignorance. We see very clearly that we're closing off. That in itself begins to illuminate the darkness of ignorance.” quote by Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/793/pema-ch-dr-n-327_ignorance_what-s-encouraging-about-meditation-is-t_1793195.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/793/pema-ch-dr-n-327_ignorance_what-s-encouraging-about-meditation-is-t_1793195.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/793/pema-ch-dr-n-327_ignorance_what-s-encouraging-about-meditation-is-t_1793195.png) > “What's encouraging about meditation is that, even if we shut down, we can no longer shut down in ignorance. We see very clearly that we're closing off. That in itself begins to illuminate the darkness of ignorance.” [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Meditation reveals ignorance, preventing us from remaining unaware of our own blindness. **In simple terms:** Meditation shows our ignorance. Key Takeaway Use meditation to confront and understand your blind spots. Themes self-awareness mindfulness spiritual growth Mood calm insightful Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - therapy sessions - spiritual retreats Key Concepts consciousness ignorance illumination Questions to Reflect On - How does meditation change your perception of ignorance? - What blind spots have you discovered? A Different Perspective Meditation alone cannot solve deep-rooted biases without action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-ignorance-479810/) [Encouraging Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encouraging-meditation-1965472/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Meditation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation/) [Meditation Shut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meditation-shut-1965471/) [Shut Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shut-ignorance-1965473/) ## Related quotes > [“Meditation is an invitation to notice when we reach our limit and to not get carried away by hope and fear. Through meditation, we’re…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/meditation-is-an-invitation-to-notice-when-we-reach-our-limit-and-to-2/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Wisdom sees even when her eyes are shut. Ignorance is deaf even when his ears are open.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/wisdom-sees-even-when-her-eyes-are-shut-ignorance-is-deaf-even-when/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“The goal of meditation is not to shut down the mind but rather to open it and let it be reflected in every aspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhuwan-thapaliya/the-goal-of-meditation-is-not-to-shut-down-the-mind-but-rather-to/) [Bhuwan Thapaliya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhuwan-thapaliya/) > [“I say, there is no darkness but ignorance; in which thou art more puzzled than the Egyptians in their fog.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-say-there-is-no-darkness-but-ignorance-in-which-thou-art-more/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I have walked with people whose eyes are full of light but who see nothing in sea or sky, nothing in city streets, nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/i-have-walked-with-people-whose-eyes-are-full-of-light-but-who-see/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [If in the darkness of ignorance, you don’t recognize a person’s true nature, look to see whom he has chosen for his leader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/if-in-the-darkness-of-ignorance-you-don-t-recognize-a-person-s-true/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Inner darkness, which we call ignorance, is the root of suffering. The more inner light that comes, the more darkness will diminish. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/inner-darkness-which-we-call-ignorance-is-the-root-of-suffering-the/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [“Give up on the sins of darkness in ignorance. Seek the knowledge of light of goodness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/give-up-on-the-sins-of-darkness-in-ignorance-seek-the-knowledge-of/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“A person who does not know the history of the last 3,000 years wanders in the darkness of ignorance, unable to make sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goethe-johann-wolfgang-von/a-person-who-does-not-know-the-history-of-the-last-3-000-years/) [Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goethe-johann-wolfgang-von/) > [When we are born we are magical and loving and full of wonder. But darkness and ignorance surround us at every corner. Until the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-ridley/when-we-are-born-we-are-magical-and-loving-and-full-of-wonder-but/) [Philip Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-ridley/) > [The wrongs done to trees, wrongs of every sort, are done in the darkness of ignorance and unbelief, for when the light comes, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/the-wrongs-done-to-trees-wrongs-of-every-sort-are-done-in-the/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [“13:11  You must understand the urgency and context of time; it is most certainly now the hour to wake up at once out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-ois-du-toit/13-11-you-must-understand-the-urgency-and-context-of-time-it-is-most/) [François Du Toit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-ois-du-toit/) > [“When we begin to shine, the darkness of ignorance will disappear from our society.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/when-we-begin-to-shine-the-darkness-of-ignorance-will-disappear-from/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“The darkness of ignorance, blindfold us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-darkness-of-ignorance-blindfold-us/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“As long as you are ready to pay this price for living in the light (knowledge), the darkness (ignorance) becomes a servant to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/as-long-as-you-are-ready-to-pay-this-price-for-living-in-the-light/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) ## More by Pema Chodron > [“LIFE’S work is to wake up, to let the things that enter into your life wake you up rather than put you to sleep.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/life-s-work-is-to-wake-up-to-let-the-things-that-enter-into-your-life/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/since-death-is-certain-and-the-time-of-death-is-uncertain-what-is-the/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [The essence of generosity is letting go. Pain is always a sign that we are holding on to something - usually ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/the-essence-of-generosity-is-letting-go-pain-is-always-a-sign-that-we/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“If the object of meditation were something concrete, something solid and graspable - an image or a statue or a dot on the floor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/if-the-object-of-meditation-were-something-concrete-something-solid/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [It's a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately fill up the space. By waiting, we begin to connect with fundamental restlessness as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/it-s-a-transformative-experience-to-simply-pause-instead-of/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“The essence of life is that it’s challenging. Sometimes it is sweet, and sometimes it is bitter. Sometimes your body tenses, and sometimes it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/the-essence-of-life-is-that-it-s-challenging-sometimes-it-is-sweet/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [If we run a hundred miles an hour to the other end of the continent in order to get away from the obstacle, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/if-we-run-a-hundred-miles-an-hour-to-the-other-end-of-the-continent/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“But in this meditation technique, we are with the out-breath; there's no particular instruction about what to do until the next out-breath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/but-in-this-meditation-technique-we-are-with-the-out-breath-there-s/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know. Nothing ever really attacks us except our own confusion. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/nothing-ever-goes-away-until-it-has-taught-us-what-we-need-to-know/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [So even if the hot loneliness is there, and for 1.6 seconds we sit with that restlessness when yesterday we couldn't sit for even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/so-even-if-the-hot-loneliness-is-there-and-for-1-6-seconds-we-sit/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [If you have rage and righteously act it out and blame it all on others, it's really you who suffers. The other people and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/if-you-have-rage-and-righteously-act-it-out-and-blame-it-all-on/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“When we realize that the path is the goal, there’s a sense of workability. Trungpa Rinpoche said, “Whatever occurs in the confused mind is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/when-we-realize-that-the-path-is-the-goal-there-s-a-sense-of/) [Pema Chödrön](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [Every day is a new opportunity to work with what you have inside toward enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/every-day-is-a-new-opportunity-to-work-with-what-you-have-inside/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/if-someone-comes-along-and-shoots-an-arrow-into-your-heart-it-s/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) [Explore all 664 Pema Chodron quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) ## More Ignorance quotes > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ignorance is not bliss — it is oblivion. Determined ignorance is the hastiest kind of oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-wylie/ignorance-is-not-bliss-it-is-oblivion-determined-ignorance-is-the/) [Philip Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-wylie/) > [... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“If knowledge does not liberate the self from the self, then ignorance is better than such knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hakim-sanai/if-knowledge-does-not-liberate-the-self-from-the-self-then-ignorance/) [Hakim Sanai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hakim-sanai/) > [You are senile old fool, and because of your impudence, I cannot fathom how you still live!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-are-senile-old-fool-and-because-of-your-impudence-i-cannot-fathom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/knowledge-will-forever-govern-ignorance-and-a-people-who-mean-to-be/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Don’t turn your face away. Once you’ve seen, you can no longer act like you don’t know. Open your eyes to the truth. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vashti-quiroz-vega/don-t-turn-your-face-away-once-you-ve-seen-you-can-no-longer-act-like/) [Vashti Quiroz-Vega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vashti-quiroz-vega/) > [Nothing is worse than active ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/nothing-is-worse-than-active-ignorance/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The only victories which leave no regret are those which are gained over ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-only-victories-which-leave-no-regret-are-those-which-are-gained/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“Those who embrace prejudice doom themselves to live in ignorance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-p-lintz-sr/those-who-embrace-prejudice-doom-themselves-to-live-in-ignorance/) [John P Lintz Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-p-lintz-sr/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Sanity can take one of only two forms: that of ignorance, or denial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-r-audette/sanity-can-take-one-of-only-two-forms-that-of-ignorance-or-denial/) [Derek R. Audette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-r-audette/) [Browse all 5,657 Ignorance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What's encouraging about meditation is that, even if we shut down, we can no longer shut down in ignorance. We see very clearly that we're closing off. 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