There is no connection between I myself yesterday and I myself in this moment
If it is raining out, do not walk fast, because it is raining everywhere.
It is wisdom that is seeking for wisdom.
The mind we have when we practice zazen is the great mind: we don't try to see anything; we stop conceptual thinking; we stop emotional activity; we just sit. Whatever happens to us, we are not bothered. We just sit. It is like something happening in the great sky. Whatever kind of bird flies through it, the sky doesn't care. That is the mind transmitted from Buddha to us.
Life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact, we have no fear of death anymore, nor actual difficulty in our life.
Everything you do is right, nothing you do is wrong, yet you must still make ceaseless effort.
The purpose of our practice is just to be yourself.
In the beginner's mind there is no thought, "I have attained something." All self-centered thoughts limit our vast mind. When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners. Then we can really learn something. The beginner's mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate, it is boundless. Dogen-zenji, the founder of our school, always emphasized how important it is to resume our boundless original mind. Then we are always true to ourselves, in sympathy with all beings, and can actually practice.
Enlightenment is not a complete remedy.
Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.
Although we have no actual written communications from the world of emptiness, we have some hints or suggestions about what is going on in that world, and that is, you might say, enlightenment. When you see plum blossoms or hear the sound of a small stone hitting bamboo, that is a letter from the world of emptiness.
If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything.
In the zazen posture, your mind and body have, great power to accept things as they are, whether agreeable or disagreeable.
Time goes from present to past.
The seed has no idea of being some particular plant, but it has its own form and is in perfect harmony with the ground, with its surroundings ... and there is no trouble. This is what we mean by naturalness.
Our practice should be based on the ideal of selflessness. Selflessness is very difficult to understand. If you try to be selfless, that is already a selfish idea. Selflessness will be there when you do not try anything.
While you are continuing this practice, week after week, year after year, your experience will become deeper and deeper, and your experience will cover everything you do in your everyday life. The most important thing is to forget all gain ing ideas, all dualistic ideas. In other words, just practice zazen in a certain posture. Do not think about anything. Just remain on your cushion without expecting anything. Then eventually you will resume your own true nature. That is to say, your own true nature resumes itself.
For Zen students a weed is a treasure. With this attitude, whatever you do, life becomes an art.
When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything.
Let your ears hear without trying to hear. Let the mind think without trying to think and without trying to stop it. That is practice.
To cook is not just to prepare food for someone or to cook for yourself; it is to express your sincerity. So when you cook you should express yourself in your activity in the kitchen. You should allow yourself plenty of time.
A garden is never finished.
Our tendency is to be interested in something that is growing in the garden, not in the bare soil itself. But if you want to have a good harvest, the most important thing is to make the soil rich and cultivate it well.
When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.
Each one of us must make his own true way, and when we do, that way will express the universal way.
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