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The Zen Life

Book by Koji Sato · 1 quotes · Zen, Change, Daily Routine

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All Zen Change Daily Routine Goodness Manual Labor Monastic Life Sesshin Zazen

The Zen Life Quotes

“By the time of the sixth patriarch, Hui-neng, it is recorded, monks were polishing rice as well as cutting firewood. That is to say, at this time manual labor had become an essential part of Zen training. The Zen master Pai-chang (720–814), whose Ching-kuei (Monastic Regulations) forms the model for Zen communal life, set the example himself for this kind of life by participating in manual labor with the other monks even in his old age. This was in accordance with his famous expression, "If one does not do any work for a day, one should not eat for a day." The Zen goal of living with an "ordinary mind" may be said to have been developed through a life such as this.”

Zen Manual Labor

Book:The Zen Life

Source: The Zen Life