Browse 1609 quotes about Zen.
“But the idea of a purposeless world is horrifying because it is incomplete. Purpose is a pre-eminently human attribute. To say that the world has no purpose is to say that it is not human[.] For what is not human appears to be inhuman only when man sets himself over against nature, for then the inhumanity of nature seems to deny man, and its purposelessness to deny his purposes. But to say that nature is not human and has no purpose is not to say what it has instead. The human body as a whole is not a hand, but it does not for this reason deny the hand.”
Source: Nature, Man and Woman
“[S]exual love is a troubled and problematic relationship in cultures where there is a strong sense of man's separation of from nature, especially when the reals of nature is felt to be inferior or contaminated with evil.”
Source: Nature, Man and Woman
“The more a person knows of himself, the more he will hesitate to define his nature and to assert what he must necessarily feel, and the more he will be astounded at his capacity to feel in unsuspected and unpredictable ways. Still more will this be so if he learns to explore, or feel deeply into, his negative states of feeling - his loneliness, sorrow, grief, depression, or fear - without trying to escape from them.”
Source: Nature, Man and Woman
“Reality in itself is neither permanent nor impermanent; it cannot be categorized. But when one tries to hold on to it, change is everywhere apparent, since, like one's own shadow, the faster one pursues it, the faster it flees.”
“To succeed is always to fail-in the sense that the more one succeeds in anything, the greater is the need to go on succeeding. To eat is to survive to be hungry.”
“[O]ur feelings are not fixed, unrelated states, but slowly or rapidly swinging motions such that a perpetuity of joy would be as meaningless as the notion of swinging only to the right.”
Source: Nature, Man and Woman
“Going through all these quotations, it may be thought that the critics are justified in charging Zen with advocating a philosophy of pure negation, but nothing is so far from Zen as this criticism would imply. For Zen always aims at grasping the central fact of life, which can never be brought to the dissecting table of the intellect. To grasp this central fact of life, Zen is forced to propose a series of negations. Mere negation, however, is not the spirit of Zen, but as we are so accustomed to the dualistic way of thinking, this intellectual error must be cut at its root. Naturally Zen would proclaim, "Not this, not that, not anything." But we may insist upon asking Zen what it is that is left after all these denials, and the master will perhaps on such an occasion give us a slap in the face, exclaiming, "You fool, what is this?" Some may take this as only an excuse to get away from the dilemma, or as having no more meaning than a practical example of ill-breeding. But when the spirit of Zen is grasped in its purity, it will be seen what a real thing that slap is. For here is no negation, no affirmation, but a plain fact, a pure experience, the very foundation of our being and thought. All the quietness and emptiness one might desire in the midst of most active mentation lies therein. Do not be carried away by anything outward or conventional. Zen must be seized with bare hands, with no gloves on.”
Source: An Introduction to Zen Buddhism
“Zen is forced to resort to negation because of our innate ignorance (avidya), which tenaciously clings to the mind as wet clothes do to the body. 'Ignorance' is all very well as far as it goes, but it must not go out of its proper sphere. 'Ignorance' is another name for logical dualism. White is snow and black is the raven. But these belong to the world and its ignorant way of talking. If we want to get to the very truth of things, we must see them from the point where this world has not yet been created, where the consciousness of this and that has not yet been awakened and where the mind is absorbed in its own identity, that is, in its serenity and emptiness. This is a world of negations but leading to a higher and absolute affirmation--an affirmation in the midst of negations. Snow is not white, the raven is not black, yet each in itself is white or black. This is where our everyday language fails to convey the exact meaning as conceived by Zen.”
Source: An Introduction to Zen Buddhism
“When you suffer a calamity - then be it so; now is the time of calamity. When you die - then be it so; now is the time to die. Thus you save yourself from calamity and death.”
“[W]hen I leave the Church and the city behind and go out under the sky, when I am with the birds, [...] with the clouds, [...] and with the oceans, [...] I cannot feel Christianity because I am in a world which grows from within. I am simply incapable of feeling its life as coming from above[.] More exactly, I cannot feel that its life comes from Another, from one who is qualitatively and spiritually external to all that lives and grows. On the contrary, I feel this whole world to be moved from the inside, and from an inside so deep that it is my inside as well, more truly I than my surface consciousness.”
“According to Zen legend, when a visitor asked the fifteenth-century master Ikkyu to write down a maxim of “the highest wisdom,” Ikkyu wrote one word: “Attention.” The visitor asked, irritably, “Is that all?” This time, Ikkyu wrote two words: “Attention. Attention.”
Source: Rational Mysticism: Spirituality Meets Science in the Search for Enlightenment
“Suppose I feel I have no friends, and I’m very lonely. What happens if I sit with that? I begin to see that my feelings of loneliness are really just thoughts. As a matter of fact, I’m simply sitting here. Maybe I’m sitting alone in my room, without a date. Nobody has called me, and I feel lonely. In fact, however, I’m simply sitting. The loneliness and the misery are simply my thoughts, my judgments that things should be other than what they are. I haven’t seen through them; I haven’t recognized that my misery is manufactured by me. The truth of the matter is, I’m simply sitting in my room. It takes time before we can see that just to sit there is okay, just fine. I cling to the thought that if I don’t have pleasant and supportive company, I am miserable.”
Source: Nothing Special: A Zen Buddhist Guide to Awakening Through Daily Life's Feelings, Relationships, and Work
“Zhaozhou often quoted this saying by Sengcan: “The great way is not difficult if you just don’t pick and choose.”
Source: Bring Me the Rhinoceros: And Other Zen Koans to Bring You Joy
“Count on your beginner's mind to help you through any times when you might feel resistant or self-conscious about your practice.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“In zazen, you create the conditions for your mind to “decompress” from its habitual mode of thinking and open up to new perspectives and insight.”
“Zazen can ultimately retrain your mind to see the world from an entirely new perspective.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“The monks find comfort, contentment, and even joy in the simplest of tasks, living each moment to its fullest by grounding themselves in the present.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“Zazen is actually not complicated. The real problem is, we don’ t want to do it. If my boyfriend begins to look at other women, how long am I going to be willing simply to experience that? We all have problems constantly, but our willingness just to be is very low on our list of priorities, until we have practiced long enough to have faith in just being, so that solutions can appear naturally. Another mark of a maturing practice is the development of such trust and faith.”
Source: Nothing Special: A Zen Buddhist Guide to Awakening Through Daily Life's Feelings, Relationships, and Work
“When we’re engaged in pure activity, we’re a presence, an awareness. But that’s all we are. And that doesn’t feel like anything. People feel that the so-called enlightened state is flooded with emotional and loving feelings. But true love or compassion is simply to be nonseparate from the object. Essentially, it’s a flow of activity in which we do not exist as a being separate from our activity.”
Source: Nothing Special: A Zen Buddhist Guide to Awakening Through Daily Life's Feelings, Relationships, and Work
“When students come in to see me, I hear complaint after complaint: about the schedule of the retreat, about the food, about the service, about me, on and on. But the issues that people bring to me are no more relevant or important than a “trivial” event such as stubbing a toe. How do we place our cushions? How do we brush our teeth? How do we sweep the floor, or slice a carrot? We think we’re here to deal with “more important” issues, such as our problems with our partner, our jobs, our health, and the like. We don’t want to bother with the “little” things, like how we hold our chopsticks, or where we place our spoon. Yet these acts are the stuff of our life, moment to moment. It’s not a question of importance, it’s a question of paying attention, being aware.
Why? Because every moment in life is absolute in itself. That’s all there is. There is nothing other than this present moment; there is no past, there is no future; there is nothing but this. So when we don’t pay attention to each little this, we miss the whole thing. And the contents of this can be anything. This can be straightening our sitting mats, chopping an onion, visiting someone we don’t want to visit. It doesn’t matter what the contents of the moment are; each moment is absolute. That’s all there is, and all there ever will be. If we could totally pay attention, we would never be upset. If we’re upset, it’s axiomatic that we’re not paying attention. If we miss not just one moment, but one moment after another, we’re in trouble.”
Source: Nothing Special: A Zen Buddhist Guide to Awakening Through Daily Life's Feelings, Relationships, and Work
“Zen is important as a counterbalance to the western eagerness and performance thinking. As long as one cannot concede more than 60-100 years of earthly existence with appropriate vitality, the relativism will dominate the continuum for all times and makes the rational-materialist thinking totally annihilated, because all the material and utopian values can´t be transferred into the other sphere.”
“You're full of shit,” Miss Stickyfoot said disdainfully. Cadbury said, “That proves I understand Zen. Do you see? Or perhaps the fact is that you don't actually understand Zen yourself.”
Source: We Can Remember It for You Wholesale and Other Classic Stories by Philip K. Dick
“A beginner’s mind allows you to remain flexible and open, even as you encounter new things that may seem strange or even uncomfortable at first.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“A beginner’s mind allows you to remain flexible and open, even as you encounter new things that may seem strange or even uncomfortable at first. It also allows you to experience something mundane from an entirely new perspective, whereas an expert might approach something believing they “already get it.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“With a beginner’s mind, we can all become more fluid in our understanding and thereby pave the way for a more fulfilling and balanced future.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“Sitting for meditation is the classic technique for a reason: Being physically still can help you still your mind.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“In the modern world, there seems to be a collective understanding of the word Zen—it has become synonymous with serenity, relaxation, and a calm demeanor.”
“Unlike many other traditions, in Zen, emphasis is placed on the direct experience of enlightenment—experiencing insight through meditation—rather than on the study of the sacred texts of Eastern traditions.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“Zazen is a great technique to start with because it is so straight- forward and uncomplicated.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“Attention focused on the breath redirects your awareness from outside your body to inside it. It is an exercise in controlling the focus of your awareness.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“Zazen practice develops our understanding of our connectedness to the world into which we were born, the world in which we live—which is also the world we are creating together, moment by moment.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“Zen is an especially intriguing school of Buddhism because it brings to mind paradoxical images of monks happily living quiet lives, meditating on mountaintops, as well as powerful martial artists.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“In the ever-accelerating modern world, with new technology constantly bombarding our senses and demanding schedules pulling us in different directions, the benefits of a practice like zazen are easy to overlook but profoundly powerful to practice.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“Slowly and steadily, as the rush to “gain the benefits” of meditation fades away and the depth of the experience itself becomes apparent, your patience will strengthen and your need to be “moving on to the next moment” will begin to recede.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“As the grounding effect of breath awareness disengages you from the often-overwhelming chatter of the mind, the level at which you think will seem to transcend the noise.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“The chronic tension the average person experiences in modern life finds its way deep into the body, and we live most of our lives in the “whiplash” of past experiences—mentally rehashing and physically re-experiencing past stressors.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“The practice of breath awareness relieves tension by shifting attention to the present, and the mental pressures of worries, concerns, and ambitions lift.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“As a result of regular mindfulness practice, you’ll begin to see your role in different circumstances, recognize your oppor- tunities to grow, and develop a relationship with yourself that is more loving, forgiving, and open to new possibilities.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“Appreciating the simple things, the great temporary gift of life and the beauty in all aspects of living, is perhaps one of the most power- ful, fulfilling benefits of practicing breath awareness.”
Source: Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You
“Before one studies Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after a first glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and waters are no longer waters; after enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and waters once again waters.”
“When fishermen cannot go to sea, they repair nets.”
“Do not be trapped by the need to achieve anything. This way, you achieve everything.”
Source: Dune Messiah
“I feel cut off only because I am split within myself, because I try to be divided from my own feelings and sensations. What I feel and sense therefore seems foreign to me. And on being aware of the unreality of this division, the universe does not seem foreign any more.
For I am what I know; what I know is I. The sensation of a house across the street or of a star in outer space is no less I than an itch on the sole of my foot or an idea in my brain.”
Source: The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety
“When we do not expect anything we can be ourselves.”
Source: Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen – The Final Teachings of Shunryu Suzuki to Empower Your Freedom
“Being infinite, the whole of reality is too much for the conscious human mind to grasp. The best any one of us can do is to take the biggest slice of Infinite Reality we can hold - intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally - and make that slice our personal sense of what is real. But no matter how broad it is, any human perception of reality can be no more than a tiny sliver of Infinite Reality.
Civilization also has a limited perception of Infinite Reality. And with a haughty self-assurance, it imposes that perception on us until we think it is our own.”
Source: Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace
“Sincerity itself is the railroad track.”
Source: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
“One of the first requisites of a tea-master is the knowledge of how to sweep, clean, and wash, for there is an art in cleaning and dusting.”
Source: The Book of Tea
“A great Zen master said just before he died, "From the bathtub, to the bathtub, I have uttered stuff and nonsense." The bathtub in which the baby is washed at birth, the bathtub in which the corpse is washed before burial, all this time I have said much nonsense.”
Source: The Tao of Philosophy: The Edited Transcripts
“If you are upset or nervous, that is proof you lack something. Do not be sad or gloomy - foster virtue, feel compassion, and you can save even devils.”
“By emphasizing doubt rather than belief, perplexity rather than certainty, and questions rather than answers, Zen practice granted me the freedom to imagine.”
Source: Confession of a Buddhist Atheist