“A truly good person will speak truth, act with truth, and stand for Truth. A truly good person is not afraid to think from their heart; therefore, allowing nonconformist decisions, viewpoints, and perspectives to lead their life. By following their heart, they stand with their conscience, and only with God.”
Source: Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
“Thoughts are the input and output of the mental process. Making thoughts is what the brain is built for—like the heart beats, the mind thinks.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“Be aware that the concept of meditation is to shift your focus to the awareness of the thinking process, rather than the content of the thoughts.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence. The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transiency, change. That everything changes is the basic truth of each existence. When we realize the everlasting truth of “everything changes” and find our composure in it, we find ourselves in Nirvana.”
Source: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
“So I’ve held on to Catholicism or Zen, as practices, as fantasy futures, as possible identities. But when I actually dare to lower myself down into this emptiness—no, that sounds entirely too dualistic and willful and “courageous”—but when this seeing suddenly happens and thought relaxes, Zen drops completely away, and something much deeper is contacted, some entirely other way of being.”
Source: Bare-Bones Meditation: Waking Up from the Story of My Life
“However, for human beings, practice is much too tiresome. We want to show our appreciation like sightseers, without doing it ourselves. Like spectator sports, which are very popular, the Zen fad is really a spectator Zen or Zen sightseeing fad.”
Source: Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo
“A waitress wearing a transparent amber dress came up to the bar. She sauntered toward him and paused to stare into his face. She surprised him by leaning close and kissing his lips. She then backed away and slapped him moderately hard.
Slater half-laughed. “What the hell was that for?”
“To know the sound of one hand clapping.”
Source: Exploits of the Satyr
“A pine tree’s branches are pliable, so they will flex downward rather than snap under the weight of accumulating snow. This is Strength through Flexibility.”
Source: The Arrows of Zen
“Adversity is an opportunity for Change”
“The truth of life is just to live.”
Source: You Have to Say Something: Manifesting Zen Insight