Zen Quotes
Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken! Take heed, do not squander your life.
Nothing can be gained by extensive study and wide reading. Give them up immediately.
He knows not where he's going, For the ocean will decide, Its not the destination, It's the glory of the ride
Earth, mountains, rivers, hidden in this nothingness.In this nothingness, earth, mountains, rivers revealed.Spring flowers, winter snows.There's no being or non-being, nor denial itself.
If you are upset or nervous, that is proof you lack something. Do not be sad or gloomy - foster virtue, feel compassion, and you can save even devils.
True wisdomis not borrowed knowledgeit must be basedon my own experience.That which I learn from othersis memory, not wisdom
In our practice we have no particular purpose or goal, nor any special object of worship.
You worry yourself unnecessarily. Put the thought of hitting right out of your mind!
...being able to wait without purpose in the state of highest tension...without continually asking yourself: Shall I be able to manage it? Wait patiently, as see what comes - and how it comes!
... the Master's warning that we should not practice anything except self-detaching immersion.
Zen is a double-edged sword, killing words and thoughts, yet at the same time, giving them life. Although beyond human intellect and philosophy, Zen is their root and source.
My conscious mind must have its roots and origins in the most unfathomable depths of being, yet it feels as if it lived all by itself in this tight little skull.
Three or four times, I have had the great death but my life is lived in the million tiny moments that make up the one dance
That's just the trouble, you make an effort to think about it. Concentrate entirely on your breathing, as if you had nothing else to do!
And the question of Wester religion, ” Flattery said, “is: What lies beyond death? But the question of the Zen master is: What lies beyond waking?
Soldiers falling fastBattle of white and scarletBlossoms on the ground
This is not a philosophy of not looking where one is going
Zen is nothing to get excited about.
One master defines Zen as the art of feeling the polar star in the southern sky. Truth can be reached only through the comprehension of opposites.
I am not important. If I take a break, no one dies. And this is A Good Thing.
Sharpen your sword daily, and let it serve your true master: YOU. You and the Master are one
To practice with an end in view is to have one eye on the practice and the other on the end, which is lack of concentration, lack of sincerity.
The brush must draw by itself. This cannot happen if one does not practice constantly. But neither can it happen if one makes an effort.
...it should be remembered that men always prize that most which is least enjoyed.
The object of our lives is to look at, listen to, touch, taste things. Without them—these sticks, stones, feathers, shells—there is no Deity.
For us life is a fact, no less, and, above all, no more.
To enter the Buddha Way is to stop discriminating between good and evil and to cast aside the mind that says this is good and that is bad.
if only people stopped acting like they've been asked to donate a lung every time somebody asks for something the world would be a better place
Don't think of what you have to do, don't consider how to carry it out!" he exclaimed. "The shot will only go smoothly when it takes the archer himself by surprise.
Sing before the spirits and dance with the earth deitiesAnd you will be able to compose your own tune.Then you and I, united, will clap hands joyously, Singing 'tum-tiddly-um tum-tiddly-um-tum.
At the moment of giving birth to a child, is the mother separate from the child? You should study not only that you become a mother when your child is born, but also that you become a child.
