“The first thing you find when you take up meditation is that you are face to face with your own insanity. ... People leave meditation practice because they are unable to bear the pain and the insult.”
Source: A Temporary Affair: Talks on Awakening and Zen
“To practice Zen means to realize one's existence in the beauty and clarity of this present moment, rather than letting life unravel in useless daydreaming of the past and future. To "rest in the present" is a state of magical simplicity.”
Source: Zen Meditation in Plain English
“No. Silence is something. This is nothing. Why couldn’t I hear it before? I think it has been there always. From the beginning of time.’ He put out his hand and stubbed it on my arm, stared at it. ‘At the end of the world, at the beginning of the world; under the sea and over the sky; at the root and crown of the universe: nothing. At all. That’s what I heard. What I hear.’ He leaned forward. ‘Do you understand?”
Source: Listening at the Gate
“A mountain shrouded in mist is not hiding anything profound. There is no more wisdom on top of that mountain than there is anywhere else. It is just as sacred as a nap below the bough of a tree, washing the dishes, the sun fading over a meadow, belly laughter, a walk down a narrow path.”
“The earth provides not just a little, but all. The very body and mind with which I tend the earth are themselves of the earth. I am but earth tending earth. Were the earth not to roll this garden toward the sun today, were the clouds not to gather above the sea, the waters not to flow, the soil not to brim with its billions of microorganisms, were all or any part of this to fail, I would fail as well, my body numbed to a fixed stillness, my slightest thought cancelled. This truth is so obvious that it is a wonder we can forget it so often and so easily. The fact of it defines who we are. To forget this is to forget who we are, a species suffering from amnesia that bewildered seeks its own name.”
Source: Bad Dog!: A Memoir of Love, Beauty, and Redemption in Dark Places
“If we don’t insist on defining impermanence as unsatisfactory, then it’s natural to celebrate. Just a moments pause to consider the passing of the seasons is enough to convince anyone that not only is impermanence the source of all possible joy in this life but its the movement of life itself.”
Source: Bad Dog!: A Memoir of Love, Beauty, and Redemption in Dark Places
“Whether you are CEO of a corporation or a garbage collector, whether you are an opera singer or a dishwasher, you are united because you can look inside and see yourself. You do not see people different from you, you start seeing that people are your true self appearing. If you cannot handle people right away, because many people are not living in that world, then try a poodle if you want to see what it looks like for the light to look back at you with open eyes.”
Source: A Temporary Affair: Talks on Awakening and Zen
“[W]hen your practice is calm and ordinary, everyday life itself is enlightenment.”
Source: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
“With whatever time is left to you, play your part well — perfectly. Play it as you want to be remembered. No more can anyone ask of us or can we ask of ourselves.”
Source: That Was Zen, This Is Tao: Living Your Way to Enlightenment, Illustrated Edition
“The ancient sages tell us that it is only through daily self-renewal of character that we can attain and continue at the height of our powers.”
Source: That Was Zen, This Is Tao: Living Your Way to Enlightenment, Illustrated Edition