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Frederick Lenz

Frederick Lenz Quotes

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Frederick Lenz was an American author known for his profound understanding and unique insights into Zen Buddhism. His works blended Zen philosophy with modern life, resonating with readers worldwide.

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All Buddhism Ifs People Mind World Enlightenment Meditation Yoga Way Rama Awareness Self Teacher Thinking Light Energy Enlightened Inspirational States Karma

Famous Frederick Lenz Quotes

“Selfless giving doesn't mean you let people walk all over you. You get a lot of footprints on your face that way.”

People Way Giving Mean Faces Walks Yoga Karma Over You Your Face Selfless Footprint Karma Yoga Selfless Giving

Author:Frederick Lenz

“If you are unhappy - be that way in your bedroom - but whenever you come out into the world, in real selfless giving we push all of that aside and we smile, love and give to others.”

Ifs World Way Giving Real Yoga Karma Unhappy Selfless Bedroom Karma Yoga Selfless Giving Smile Love

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Selfless giving is friendliness. An attitude towards life, a reverence for life. It is one of the highest of all ways.”

Way Giving Attitude Highest Yoga Karma Reverence Selfless Karma Yoga Friendliness Reverence For Life Attitude Towards Life Selfless Giving

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Each day try and go through the day with an attitude of being a servant to the world. You'll benefit the most - and the way will be joyous.”

World Way Trying Attitude Benefits Yoga Karma Servant Each Day Joyous Karma Yoga

Author:Frederick Lenz

“The only way you will advance spiritually is through humility.”

Way Humility Buddhism

Author:Frederick Lenz

“To think that fulfilling yourself in this world will create eternal fulfillment is absurd. But we feel this way because we lack purity.”

Thinking World Way Feels This World Buddhism Eternal Absurd Fulfillment Purity Fulfilling

Author:Frederick Lenz

“The way you become happy is by realizing that there is no self. No self at all, not a silly millimeter of self. You don't exist. When you know this, you will be happy.”

Knows Way Self Realizing Silly Nothingness

Author:Frederick Lenz

“You are fighting against nothingness all the time by creating a series of shields that you call personality, life history, feelings, ideas, and ways of seeing.”

Way Ideas Feelings Fighting Seeing Personality Creating Series Nothingness Shields

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Qualityless simply means there is no way to discuss it. There is no way to pin it down. It could be anything at any given moment since infinity is not bound even by itself, nor the words that human beings choose to try and talk around it.”

Way Trying Humans Mean Moments Given Human Beings Bounds Infinity Nothingness Pins

Author:Frederick Lenz

“We label things through value systems that we have developed. But nothing is or is not unless we feel it is that way. We give ground to reality by creating it.”

Way Giving Feels Reality Values Creating Labels Nothingness Value Systems

Author:Frederick Lenz

“You human beings think that yoga is in some way going to make everything you want to happen, work out. You are going to be able to avoid what you don't want. That is not yoga. That is desire and aversion.”

Thinking Way Want Humans Happens Able Desire Human Beings Yoga Intention Work Out Aversion

Author:Frederick Lenz

“A way of spreading the dharma is just telling people, sharing with them your experiences. Never push it, never be a missionary. Be completely selfless; realize you're only an instrument of eternity.”

People Way Realizing Eternity Instruments Missionary Selfless Dharma

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Share the way by being a good example.”

Way Share Example Good Examples

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Be fair. Don't present your version of the truth to others. Lose your ulterior motives! Be accurate and pure in your presentation of the way, and you will become the way.”

Way Loses Pure Fairs Versions Motive Accurate Presentation Ulterior Motive

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Nothing is any particular way. It's your state of mind that creates reality.”

Way Mind States Reality Particular State Of Mind Introduction

Author:Frederick Lenz

“In Zen we classify ten thousand different states of mind, different ways of seeing life. There is something beyond the ten thousand states of mind that we call nirvana.”

Way Mind Different States Seeing Thousand Ten Different Ways State Of Mind Introduction

Author:Frederick Lenz

“There are two primary ways of studying Zen. Either an individual will enter into a Zen monastery and study with a Zen master there, or they will study with a Zen master who lives in the contemporary world.”

World Way Two Individual Study Masters Contemporary Primaries Introduction Monasteries Zen Master

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Zen is the way of splitting the self again and again, untilt there is nothing left.”

Way Self Left Again And Again Introduction Splitting

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Bodhidharma who brought Zen from India to the Orient, taught a very pure Zen - in that it was pure Zen. He wanted to show that the way still existed and wanted to get back to its essence.”

Way Stills Shows Wanted Taught Pure Essence India Get Back Introduction

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Old Zen is the way of nothingness, the way of having a good time.”

Way Good Times Nothingness Introduction Having A Good Time

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Meditation is the way the mind is. That's why in Zen they call it the natural state, which means you don't have to go and do anything to meditate.”

Way Mind Mean States Natural Meditation Introduction

Author:Frederick Lenz

“The way of nothingness is the way of Zen. It is just a term. The contemplation of nothingness or everythingness is where everything starts.”

Way Term Contemplation Nothingness Introduction

Author:Frederick Lenz

“The study of Zen is a retraining. It is a series of new ways, not just one way, to learn to use your mind more efficiently.”

Way Mind Use Study Series One Way Just One New Ways Introduction

Author:Frederick Lenz

“The way to develop your psychic ability is by learning to create a shield between yourself and the sensorial and vibratory bombardment that we experience in the modern world.”

World Way Ability Seeing Modern Psychics Modern World Shields Psychic Abilities

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Continually reorder the mind and the mental structures, the ability to think in prescribed ways, to analyze in prescribed ways, and to stop thought for periods of time.”

Thinking Way Mind Ability Seeing Periods Structure

Author:Frederick Lenz

“To go to the very center of the mind of God, to be that, to become aware of our infiniteness, is the goal of Buddhism and along the way, to be as kind to others as possible without thinking that we are particularly wonderful.”

Thinking Way Mind Kind Action Goal Wonderful Buddhism Right Action

Author:Frederick Lenz

“The problem is with any practice is that it is a practice. That is why people don't win. The reason why people don't win is they get stuck in ideas, habits, and ways of seeing life.”

People Way Ideas Reason Problem Action Winning Practice Seeing Habit Stuck Reason Why Right Action

Author:Frederick Lenz

“There are the samskaras, the tendencies from your other lifetimes, ways of seeing, habits that are so strong, they affect you now. They are the operative situations in your life that are created by karma.”

Way Strong Situation Seeing Habit Lifetime Karma Tendencies Samskara

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Help the world in any way that you want to. I have found that the more light you give and spread, the more you will evolve.”

World Way Want Giving Helping Light Found Compassion Spread Evolve

Author:Frederick Lenz

“To feel that you are the Buddha of all times and places and that in some way the salvation of anyone, including yourself, depends upon you, I think there's a lot of ego involved in such a view, not much self-transcendence.”

Thinking Way Feels Self Views Compassion Depends Involved Ego Salvation Including All Time Transcendence

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Within the universe there is a pure light. It is a light that is beyond all darkness. It does not give way to anything. It is the light of existence, the dharmakaya.”

Way Giving Doe Light Universe Existence Darkness Buddhism Pure

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Nirvikalpa samadhi or sahaja samadhi is all the way up. You get above the cloud line to the land of eternal snows and it's ecstasy beyond ecstasy.”

Way Lines Land Buddhism Eternal Clouds Snow Ecstasy Samadhi Above The Clouds

Author:Frederick Lenz

“I had a mother who was very developed psychically and spiritually. She was, in a way, an opposite of my father, a complete liberal, interested in woman's liberation before it was the fashion.”

Way Mother Father Fashion Opposites Liberation Rama

Author:Frederick Lenz

“I found growing up that love and sexuality was a wonderful way to understand existence. When we love it takes us beyond ourselves, otherwise we're just absorbed with the preoccupations that we invent.”

Way Found Existence Growing Up Growing Wonderful Sexuality Rama Preoccupation

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Originally, I was interested in athletic pursuits like snowboarding, martial arts and surfing. When I went to the Himalayas and met a number of Buddhist monks I was introduced to a new way of looking at life.”

Way Art Numbers Mets Pursuit Buddhist Martial Arts New Ways Monk Surfing Athletic Rama Snowboarding Himalayas Buddhist Monk

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Powerful people affect many others and if I can in some way contribute to their awareness, they will put out better energy to millions and millions of people.”

People Ifs Way I Can Energy Powerful Millions Awareness Rama

Author:Frederick Lenz

“In one particular chapter in Ulysses, James Joyce imitates every major writing style that's been used by English and American writers over the last 700 years - starting with Beowulf and Chaucer and working his way up through the Renaissance, the Victorian era and on into the 20th century.”

“I don't think people should be primarily concerned with money or material success. They should be concerned with doing that which is right and being in harmony with the way of life.”

People Thinking Way Should Materials Concerned Harmony Rama

Author:Frederick Lenz

“I think the most miraculous thing is learning. I get out of the way and let the students learn. Then you get to watch this amazing thing happen.”

Thinking Way Happens Watches Students Buddhism Things Happen Miraculous Rama Amazing Things

Author:Frederick Lenz

“I know a lot of ways to happiness! I also know some pretty fast shortcuts to misery.”

Knows Way Buddhism Misery Rama Shortcuts

Author:Frederick Lenz

“I personally have fun with enlightenment, the study and the teaching of it. I get a kick out of doing it different ways because I don't think there is a "way".”

Thinking Way Different Fun Study Teaching Buddhism Enlightenment Having Fun Different Ways Kicks Rama

Author:Frederick Lenz

“I am very interested in the enlightenment of women. Very few teachers of advanced self discovery work with women, and if they do it's usually in a very second handed way. They treat women as second class citizens.”

Ifs Way Self Class Teacher Buddhism Citizens Enlightenment Discovery Treats Self Discovery Rama Second Class Citizens

Author:Frederick Lenz

“The way advanced meditation is taught, the way I teach it, the way all enlightened people teach it, is through transference. We transfer light and power to someone else.”

People Way Light Teach Meditation Taught Buddhism Enlightened Rama Transfers Transference

Author:Frederick Lenz

“A part of them has grown very attached to a certain way of life.”

Way Certain Buddhism Rama

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Most of the teaching I do is not verbal. It's in every movement of my body. It's in my dance. It's in the way I lift a glass of water. It's in my voice tone. It's in every aspect of my life - because it isn't my life anymore.”

Way Body Voice Water Teaching Movement Buddhism Aspect Glasses Lifts Tone Rama

Author:Frederick Lenz

“It is inevitable that, in the process of teaching an Asian religion in a Western country, many of the teachings will seem strange or unusual - in the same way that Christianity and Judaism may seem strange and unusual to people from the Far East.”

People Way May Country Seems Process Christianity Teaching Strange Buddhism Western East Inevitable Unusual Judaism Asian Rama Christianity And Judaism

Author:Frederick Lenz

“It's as if all your past is written on the blackboard, and if we could erase it, your past would no longer exist. The way you do that - the only way you do that - is in samadhi.”

Ifs Way Past Written Our Past Your Past Erase Samadhi Blackboard

Author:Frederick Lenz

“The light of the supra-conscious, of salvakalpa and nirvikalpa samadhi, is not connected to this world at all. It passes through this world but it is not part of this world, in a way of speaking.”

World Way Light This World Conscious Connected Samadhi

Author:Frederick Lenz

“When you sit and meditate and begin to experience expanded states of mind, you will be afraid. The light makes most people very, very afraid. The only way to overcome the fear is walking down into the light.”

People Way Mind States Light Walking Overcoming State Of Mind Samadhi

Author:Frederick Lenz

“Salvakalpa samadhi is like a sea of perfect light; nirvikalpa samadhi is no light, no darkness, no way to describe it. Absorption is complete, that's nirvana.”

Way Light Perfect Darkness Sea Samadhi Absorption

Author:Frederick Lenz

About the Author

Born: February 9, 1950
Died: April 12, 1998
Known for: Author
Quotes: 4397

Related Topics

Buddhism Ifs People Mind World Enlightenment Meditation Yoga Way Rama Awareness Self Teacher Thinking Light Energy Enlightened Inspirational States Karma

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Surfing the Himalayas: conversations and travels with Master FwapRelated source material

Surfing the Himalayas: A Spiritual AdventureRelated source material

Snowboarding to Nirvana: A NovelRelated source material

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