D. T. SUZUKI

To imagine that Zen is mysterious is the first grave mistake which many make about it.

ZEN SAYING

The knife does not cut itself, the finger does not touch itself, the mind does not know itself, the eye does not see itself.

DŌGEN

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

ZEN SAYING

The man who’s drunk water knows if it’s cool or warm.

ALAN WATTS

Zen is like a spring coming out of a mountain. It doesn’t flow in order to quench the thirst of a traveler, but if the travelers want to help themselves to it, that’s fine. It’s up to you what you do with the water; the spring’s job is just to flow.

TAIZAN MAEZUMI

If your actions are sloppy, your understanding is sloppy, your life is sloppy, and everything is sloppy.

AKHENATON

To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom; and he that increaseth his riches, increaseth his cares; but a contented mind is a hidden treasure, and trouble findeth it not.

ZEN STORY

One day a farmer’s horse ran away. That evening his neighbors gathered around to commiserate with the farmer over such bad luck. The farmer said, “May be.” The next day the horse returned, followed by six wild horses. The neighbors couldn’t believe the farmer’s sudden good luck. The farmer said, “May be.” The next day, while trying to ride one of the wild horses, the farmer’s son was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors again commiserated over the farmer’s bad luck, but all he said was, “May be.” The day after that, army officers came through the village conscripting the oldest sons, but the farmer’s son was rejected because of his broken leg. When the neighbors came to say how fortunate everything turned out, the farmer said, “May be.”

Shunryu Suzuki

We practice zazen like someone close to dying. There is nothing to rely on, nothing to depend on. Because you are dying, you don't want anything, so you cannot be fooled by anything.

Most people are not only fooled by something, they are also fooled by themselves, by their ability, their beauty, their confidence, or their outlook. We should know whether or not we are fooling ourselves. When you are fooled by something else, the damage will not be so big, but when you are fooled by yourself, it is fatal.

pg 98 of the book titled "not always so - practicing the true spirit of Zen"

Confucius

The great man is sparing in words but prodigal in deeds.

Shunryu Suzuki

No trace: When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

Tao te Ching

A good traveler leaves no track.

Takuan

The mind should be nowhere in particular.

Chinese proverb

Guessing is cheap; guessing wrong is expensive.

Baba Ram Dass

The game is not about becoming somebody, it's about becoming nobody.

Dhammapada

Victory breeds hatred. He who has given up both victory and defeat, he is contented and happy.

Chinese proverb

Control your emotion or it will control you.

Shu Ching

Heaven-sent calamities you may stand up against, but you cannot survive those brought on by yourself.

Keizan

Not to have any desire whatsoever--that is the Way.

Tao te Ching

He who knows he has enough is rich.

Tao te Ching

The wise man sets no high value on a thing simply because it is hard to get.

Japanese proverb

True words are often not beautiful, just as beautiful words are often not true.

Dhammapada

Those who remember that we must come to an end in this world, their quarrels cease at once.

Tso Ssu

The bird in a forest can perch but on one bough. And this should be the wise man's pattern.

Confucius

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.

unknown

Public deeds are image; private conduct is character.

Lao-tzu

Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires.

Kahlil Gibran

What is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thurst?

J. Krishnamurti

We all want to be famous people, and the moment we want to BE something we are no longer free.

Shunryu Suzuki

What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and exhale.

Zen saying

No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.

Japanese proverb

When someone's character is not clear to you, look at that person's friends.

Nichiren

Winter always turns to spring.

John Cage

Our poetry now is the realization that we possess nothing. Anything therefore is a delight, since we do not possess it, and thus need not fear its loss.

The Buddha

People with opinions just go around bothering one another.

Long Chen Pa

Since everything is none other than exactly as it is, one may well just break out in laughter.

Buddhist saying

When confusion ceases, tranquility comes; when tranquility comes, wisdom appears, and when wisdom appears, reality is seen.

The Third Patriarch

True enlightenment and wholeness arise when we are without anxiety about nonperfection.

Carlos Castaneda

Death is our eternal companion. It is always to our left, at an arm's length. It has always been watching you. It always will until the day it taps you. The thing to do when you're impatient...to turn to your left and ask advice from your death. An immense amount of pettiness is dropped if your death makes a gesture to you, or if you catch a glimpse of it, or if you just catch the feeling that your companion is there watching you.

Ecclesiastes

Better a handful of quietness than both hands full of toil and much chasing the wind.

Dr. Henry Jekyll

In each of us two natures are at war...the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, but one of them must conquer. In our own hands lies the power to choose. What we want most to be we are.

Gampopa

Wherever there is attachment Association with it Brings endless misery.

Buddha

Avoid attachment to both what is pleasant And what is unpleasant. Losing the pleasant causes grief. Dwelling on the unpleasant also causes grief. Do not cling to the pleasant. Let it pass, So that the separation will not diminish you. Clinging to what is dear brings sorrow. Clinging to what is dear brings fear. To one who is entirely free from endearment There is no sorrow or fear.

Yoda in Star Wars Episode III

Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is... Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose... The fear of loss is a path to the dark side.

Pope John XXIII

It often happens that I awake at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the pope.

Buddha

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relationships. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.

Yue Fei

Do not let time pass without accomplishing something. Otherwise you will regret it when your hair turns gray.

Sri Sarada Devi

I tell you one thing - if you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others.

Mahatma Gandhi

There is more to life than increasing its speed.

Lin Yutang

The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach.

Sa'Di

Whoever interrupts the conversation of others to make a display of his fund of knowledge, makes notorious his own stock of ignorance.

Thich Nhat Hanh

The deepest happiness you can have comes from that capacity to help relieve the suffering of others.

Buddhist proverb

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

Confucius

If either wealth or poverty are come by honestly, there is no shame.

Dalai Lama

The more we take the welfare of others to heart and work for their benefit, the more benefit we derive for ourselves. That is a fact that we can see.

Taisen Deshiraru

Time is not a line, but a series of now points.

Kahlil Gibran

When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.

Dalai Lama

Your mind by nature is very soft, but when you have troubles, your mind gets strong.

Buddha

Not in the heavens above, nor in the farthest reaches of the sea, nor by transporting yourself to the remotest valleys of the mountains, will you be able to hide from the consequences of your own evil actions. Likewise, certain are the blessings growing out of your good actions.

Buddha

A wicked man who reproaches a virtuous one is like one who looks up and spits at heaven; the spittle soils not the heaven but comes back and defiles his own person.

Chinese proverb

A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses.

Confucius

The wise man looks for what is within, the fool for what is without.

Kihlil Gibran

And what is fear of need but need itself? Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?

Thich Nhat Hanh

I vow to cultivate loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and to relieve them of their suffering.

Anger punishes

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger...Let a man overcome anger by love.
-Buddha

Mencius

The disease of men is this; that they neglect their own field, and go weed the fields of others, and what they require from others is great, while what they lay upon themselves is light.

Djalal ad-Din Rumi

Leave all worries behind and make your heart totally pure, like the face of a mirror with no image or design. Once you heart is cleansed of all images, it will contain them all.

Krishnamurti

If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem.

Krishnamurti

If your eyes are blinded with your worries, you cannot see the beauty of the sunset.

Chuang Tzu

I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.

Zen saying

Everything the same; everything distinct.

Chinese proverb

He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes.

Not Far from Buddhahood

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones p.36

Not Far from Buddhahood

A university student while visiting Gasan asked him: "Have you ever read the Christian Bible?""No, read it to me," said Gasan.The student opened the Bible and read from St. Matthew: "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these....Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."Gasan said: "Whoever uttered those words I consider an enlightened man."The student continued reading: "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened."Gasan remarked: "That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from Buddhahood."

My Heart Burns Like Fire

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones p.43

My Heart Burns Like Fire

Soyen Shaku, the first Zen teacher to come to America, said: "My heart burns like fire, but my eyes are as cold as dead ashes." He made the following rules which he practiced every day of his life.
In the morning before dressing, light incense and meditate.
Retire at a regular hour. Partake of food at regular intervals. Eat with moderation and never to the point of satisfaction.
Receive a guest with the same attitude you have when alone. When alone, maintain the same attitude you have in receiving guests.
Watch what you say, and whatever you say, practice it.
When an opportunity comes do not let it pass by, yet always think twice before acting.
Do not regret the past. Look to the future.
Have the fearless attitude of a hero and the loving heart of a child.
Upon retiring, sleep as if you had entered your last sleep. Upon awakening, leave you bed behind you instantly as if you had cast away a pair of old shoes.

The Voice of Happiness

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones p.47

The Voice of Happiness

After Bankei had passed away, a blind man who lived near the master's temple told a friend: "Since I am blind, I cannot watch a person's face, so I must judge his character by the sound of his voice. Ordinarily when I hear someone congratulate another upon his happiness or success, I also hear a secret tone of envy. When condolence is expressed for the misfortune of another, I hear pleasure and satisfaction, as if the one condoling was really glad there was something left to gain in his own world. In all my experience, however, Bankei's voice was always sincere. Whenever he expressed happiness, I heard nothing but happiness, and whenever he expressed sorrow, sorrow was all I heard."