Yesterday, Oprah sat under the oaks with best-selling author and philanthropist Russell Simmons. Throughout the telecast, Oprah referred to the many other hats this Renaissance Man wears–spiritual teacher, business yogi, hip-hop pioneer, and enlightenment peddler. She also quoted from his recent book, Success Through Stillness.

I was impressed by Russell’s clear and simple approach to meditation: Give yourself 20 minutes and sit there, no matter what. Acknowledge all the thoughts and accept that your mind may behave like a crazy monkey in a cage. Eventually, the mind will settle and transcend these pesky thoughts.

A gentle reminder from Russell–You don’t get muscles with one push-up, so be patient and let your meditation practice evolve.

Quotable quotes…

Reboot the mind and see what God has given us.

Meditation can reintroduce you to that part of yourself that has been “missing” for so long.

God’s miracles are floating in front of us.

Neediness is the cause of suffering. i.e. Needing things to be different.

Needing nothing attracts everything.

We have to define success; we can’t let the world define it for us.

You should need for nothing, but if you do need something, let it be enlightenment.