As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.
Even though you try very hard, the progress you make is always little by little. It is not like going out in a shower in which you know when you get wet. In a fog, you do not know you are getting wet, but as you keep walking you get wet little by little. If your mind has ideas of progress, you may say, 'Oh, this pace is terrible!' But actually it is not. When you get wet in a fog it is very difficult to dry yourself.
Big mind is something to express, not something to figure out. Big mind is something you have, not something to seek for.
So when you try hard to make your own way, you will help others...before you make your own way you cannot help anyone, and no one can help you.
If you cannot bow to Buddha, you cannot be a Buddha. It is arrogance.
Zen is everywhere.... But for you, Zen is right here.
In order not to leave any traces, when you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do. You should not have any remains after you do something. But this does not mean to forget all about it.
The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the experts, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all possibilities.
The secret of Soto Zen is just two words: not always so.... In Japanese, it's two words, three words in English. That is the secret of our practice.
We should not be just a fan of dragons; we should always be the dragon himself. Then we will not be afraid of any dragon.
Real Freedom is to not feel limited when wearing this Zen robe, this troublesome formal robe. Similarly, in our busy life we should wear this civilization without being bothered by it, without ignoring it, without being caught by it.
True communication depends upon our being straightforward with one another... But the best way to communicate may be just to sit without saying anything.
The person who can freely acknowledge that life is full of difficulties can be free, because they are acknowledging the nature of life - that it can't be much else.
If you think your body and mind are two, that is wrong; if you think that they are one, that is also wrong. Our body and mind are both two and one.
The point we emphasize is strong confidence in our original nature.
You want to eliminate your evil desires in order to reveal your Buddha nature, but where will you throw them away?
You should rather be grateful for the weeds you have in your mind, because eventually they will enrich your practice.
When we inhale, the air comes into the inner world. When we exhale, the air goes out to the outer world. The inner world is limitless, and the outer world is also limitless. We say "inner world" or "outer world" but actually, There is just one whole world.
Zazen practice is the direct expression of our true nature. Strictly speaking, for a human being, there is no other practice than this practice; there is no other way of life than this way of life.
If you try to observe the precepts, that is not true observation of precepts. When you observe the precepts without trying to observe the precepts, that is true observation of the precepts.
An enlightened person does not ignore things and does not stick to things, not even to the truth.
We do not slight the idea of enlightenment, but the most important thing is this moment, not some day in the future. We have to make our effort in this moment. This is the most important thing for our practice.
It is a big mistake to think that the best way to express yourself is to do whatever you want, acting as you please. This is not expressing yourself. If you know what to do exactly, and you do it, then you can express yourself fully.
Preparing food is not just about yourself and others. It is about everything!
Someone was sitting in front of a sunflower, watching the sunflower, a cup of sun, and so I tried it too. It was wonderful; I felt the whole universe in the sunflower. That was my experience. Sunflower meditation. A wonderful confidence appeared. You can see the whole universe in a flower.
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