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Quote by Kenneth S. Leong

“One of the most profound truths that Mahayana Buddhism teaches is that nirvana is samsara (the troubled world). [...] The same truth is expressed most beautifully in the Christian image of the Incarnation: God descends to reascend. There can be no ascension without descent. We must realize that Zen and Christianity are not telling two different stories but one story.”

Quote by Kenneth S. Leong

Book:The Zen Teachings of Jesus

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The Zen Teachings of Jesus

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Kenneth S. Leong

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“Zen people almost never talk about hell or sin. For the real problem is ignorance, especially ignorance about our true identity.”

Book:The Zen Teachings of Jesus

Source: The Zen Teachings of Jesus

“As Catholic mystic Thomas Merton observed, "Everything that is, is holy." To see the truth of this statement is the beginning of an abundant life.”

Book:The Zen Teachings of Jesus

Source: The Zen Teachings of Jesus

“Intellectually, we all know that we cannot avoid death. But for most people, there is usually a wide discrepancy between between intellectual reality and psychological reality. Psychologically, we tend to deny death. [...] Recognizing the reality of death psychologically and not just intellectually is an important part of spiritual awakening.”

Book:The Zen Teachings of Jesus

Source: The Zen Teachings of Jesus

“Enlightenment is not an achievement; it is just the seeing of reality as it is. In fact, nirvana is simply what is. We have been staring at it all our lives, and yet so few of us get it. The fact is that life is at the same time lamentable and beautiful. When we realize this humorous and absurd beauty of life, what can we do but to burst into laughter?”

Book:The Zen Teachings of Jesus

Source: The Zen Teachings of Jesus

“To do God's will is simply to surrender our ego and accept what is. It is to develop a nonviolent approach to life: to recognize and accept our weaknesses and limitations, to be friendly with the universe instead of fighting against it, to accept that there are things that we simply cannot control or predict.”

Book:The Zen Teachings of Jesus

Source: The Zen Teachings of Jesus

“Disappointment is the fast track to enlightenment because it accelerates our coming to terms with reality.”

Book:The Zen Teachings of Jesus

Source: The Zen Teachings of Jesus

“When was the last time you noticed the beauty of a cool breeze or the wonder of a starry sky or the vibrancy of a wild flower on the roadside? I used to have the ability to instantly appreciate the beauty of all these when I was a child, but by the time I was twenty it was almost lost. (It took a lot of Zen practice for me to regain it.) The world has not changed that much; there are still summer breezes, night skies, and wild flowers. But where has the perception gone?”

Book:The Zen Teachings of Jesus

Source: The Zen Teachings of Jesus

“But in order to look, one has to start with a beginner's mind that carries no preconceptions or presumptions. The beginner's mind looks to find out what is new; it does not look to confirm.”

Book:The Zen Teachings of Jesus

Source: The Zen Teachings of Jesus

“When you can do nothing, what can you do? [...] This is the most amazing, yet most obvious and logical answer: that in the certainty of death, one should get as much out of life as possible. Paradoxically it is the absence of choice in this matter that allows us to have more inner freedom.”

Book:The Zen Teachings of Jesus

Source: The Zen Teachings of Jesus

“Death is treated like a taboo in our culture, and all medical efforts are directed toward fighting this law of nature. But perhaps there is a beautiful side of death. [...] Perhaps death is God's wabi-sabi.”

Book:The Zen Teachings of Jesus

Source: The Zen Teachings of Jesus