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Dogen

Dogen Quotes

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Famous Dogen Quotes

“A fish swims in the ocean, and no matter how far it swims there is no end to the water. A bird flies in the sky, and no matter how far it flies there is no end to the air. However the fish and the bird have never left their elements. Thus each of them totally covers its full range, and each of them totally experiences its realm... Know that water is life and air is life. The bird is life and the fish is life. Life must be the bird and life must be the fish... practice, enlightenment and people are like this.”

PeopleKnowsEndsMatterLeftWaterPracticeAirSkyElementsOceanBirdEnlightenmentFishesRangeRealmsSwimWater Is Life
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“In the assemblies of the enlightened ones there have been many cases of mastering the Way bringing forth the heart of plants and trees; this is what awakening the mind for enlightenment is like. The fifth patriarch of Zen was once a pine-planting wayfarer; Rinzai worked on planting cedars and pines on Mount Obaku. . . . Working with plants, trees, fences and walls, if they practice sincerely they will attain enlightenment.”

IfsWayMindHeartHas BeensSpiritualityPracticeCasesTreeWallEnlightenmentPlantAwakeningEnlightenedGardeningFenceFifthSincerelyAssemblyPlant A TreeCedarsPlants And TreesPatriarch
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“The zazen I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the Dharma gate of repose and bliss, the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the manifestation of ultimate reality. Traps and snares can never reach it. Once its heart is grasped, you are like the dragon when he gains the water, like the tiger when she enters the mountain. For you must know that just there (in zazen) the right Dharma is manifesting itself and that, from the first, dullness and distraction are struck aside.”

KnowsFirstsHeartRealitySpeakWaterPracticeMeditationMountainEnlightenmentGainsUltimateRealizationManifestationBlissDragonsGatesManifestDistractionTrapsTigersDharmaReposeSnaresDullnessUltimate Reality
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“To study the Way is to study the Self. To study the Self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things of the universe. To be enlightened by all things of the universe is to cast off the body and mind of the self as well as those of others. Even the traces of enlightenment are wiped out, and life with traceless enlightenment goes on forever and ever”

WayMindWellsSelfBodyUniverseForgetForeverStudyGoes OnEnlightenmentAll ThingsCastsEnlightenedMind And Body
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“Whenever learners or those beyond learning awaken the mind, for the first time they plant one buddha-nature. Working with the four elements and five clusters, if they practice sincerely they attain enlightenment. Working with plants, trees, fences and walls, if they practice sincerely they will attain enlightenment. This is because the four elements and five clusters and plants, trees, fences and walls are fellow students; because they are of the same essence, because they are the same mind and the same life, because they are the same body and the same mechanism.”

IfsLifeMindFirstsBodyPracticeFiveFourTreeStudentsWallElementsEnlightenmentFirst TimeEssenceFellowsPlantMechanismFenceSincerelyLearnersPlant A TreeClustersBuddha NatureFour Elements
Author:Dogen
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