Daily Zen Quote - December 31, 2013

New year, old year, what does it matter?
I stretch and I have a quiet sleep all alon.
Don't tell me the monks aren't getting instruction -
Here and there the nightingale sings,
    the highest Zen.

~Bankei

Daily Zen Quote - December 30, 2013

I know that the enterprise is worthy. I know that things works well. I have heard no bad news.

~Henry David Thoreau

Daily Zen Quote - December 29, 2013

I do not need any writing, since I transmit teaching beyond words and ideas.

~Bodhidharma

Daily Zen Quote - December 28, 2013

Heaven and Earth are of the same root as we. All things in the world are one substance with me.

~So-Jo

Daily Zen Quote - December 27, 2013

If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.

~Juan Ramon Jimenez

Daily Zen Quote - December 26, 2013

Once, back in the time of Buddha, a group of seven women walked into the forest and came across a corpse.
    "Here is the body of a man who has died," said one of the women. "Where is the man?"
    Another one of the women asked, "Where has he gone? Where has he gone?"
    At that moment all of the women were enlightened.

~Buddhist Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - December 25, 2013

Wherever I go
I meet him
He is no other
than myself
yet
I am not he.

~Dogen

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

Daily Zen Quote - December 24, 2013

Mysticism occurs whenever a human being sees the separation between the natural and the supernatural, between the temporal and the eternal, as overcome.

~Albert Schweitzer

Daily Zen Quote - December 23, 2013

An American Seeker: If you follow any way, you will never get there; and if you do not follow any way, you will never get there. So one faces a dilemma.

Hisamatsu: Let the dilemma be your way!

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - December 22, 2013

There are no words as great as the no-words words.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - December 21, 2013

The sage's mind is dark and still. Through Truth he reaches the ultimate aim and is identified with non-being.

~Liu Chiang-Ch'ing

Daily Zen Quote - December 20, 2013

Lose your mind and come to your senses.

~Fritz Perls

Daily Zen Quote - December 19, 2013

When you eventually see through the veils to how things really are, you will keep saying again and again, "This is certainly not like we thought it was."

~Rumi

Daily Zen Quote - December 18, 2013

We suffer from an illness of the illusion of separateness. We believe that the world is full of discrete things, when in fact it is all one interconnected whole. We experience ourselves as conscious skin-bags living a transitory moral life, when in fact we are the eternal mind of the universe. Separateness is the sickness and Zen is the cure.

~Timothy Freke

Daily Zen Quote - December 17, 2013

To go in the dark with a light
      is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark.

~Wendell Berry

Daily Zen Quote - December 16, 2013

This world is so wonderful, so Unthinkable and Ungraspable. What are we touching right here and now? 

~Soen

Daily Zen Quote - December 15, 2013

Who is he that is hearing at this very moment?

~Bassui's Koan

Daily Zen Quote - December 14, 2013

No matter how many years you sit doing zazen, you will never become anything special.

~Master Sawaki

Daily Zen Quote - December 13, 2013

By the practice of Zen you can liberate yourself from your small self and attain the realization of your real self.

~Sogen Asahina

Daily Zen Quote - December 12, 2013

You become what you think about all day long.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Daily Zen Quote - December 11, 2013

In spring, hundreds of flowers;
In autumn, a harvest moon;
In summer, a refreshing breeze;
In winter, snow will accompany you.
If useless things do not hang in our mind,
Any season is a good season.

~Zen Poem

Daily Zen Quote - December 10, 2013

My advice to you: take a rest. Have nothing to do. Put on your clothes, eat your food, move your bowels. That's all. No death to fear. No transmigration to dread. No Nirvana to achieve and no wisdom to attain. Try to be just an ordinary man having nothing to do.

~Hsuan-Chien

Daily Zen Quote - December 9, 2013

"I have never seen anything without seeing God therein," said one Sufi to another.
Said the other, "I have never seen anything but God."

~Sufi Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - December 8, 2013

If all things be regarded with love, Heaven and Earth are one with me.

~So-Shi

Daily Zen Quote - December 7, 2013

To be whole within the fragment.

~Lao-Tsu

Daily Zen Quote - December 6, 2013

When we really let go, we become everything. At that point we are identified with all things: the flower, the oak tree, the morning star.

~Dennis Genpo Merzel

Daily Zen Quote - December 5, 2013

In Zen, silence is good and talk is not.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - December 4, 2013

That which before enlightenment is called lustful anger, is after enlightenment called Buddha-wisdom. What the man does is no different from what he did before. It is only that the man himself is not the same as he was.

~Huai-Hai

Daily Zen Quote - December 3, 2013

Bifurcation of reality into subject and object is the work of intellection. When there is no such working, life is a complete whole with no cleavage in it.

~D.T. Suzuki

Daily Zen Quote - December 2, 2013

There is no real philosophy until the mind turns around and examines itself.

~Will Durant

Daily Zen Quote - December 1, 2013

Meditation in a state of activity is a thousand times more profound than that in a state of quietude.

~Daie

Daily Zen Quote - November 30, 2013

Heaven, Earth, and I were produced together.

~So-Shi

Daily Zen Quote - November 29, 2013

In their deepest nature men are Buddha, as water is ice. And there is no ice without water, so without the Buddha there could be no men. Woe to them who seek it in the far distance, and know not that it is very near.

~Hakuin

Daily Zen Quote - November 28, 2013

When you get free from certain fixed concepts of the way the world is, you find it is far more subtle, and far more miraculous, than you thought it was.

~Alan Watts

Daily Zen Quote - November 27, 2013

Think this certain, that to a good man no evil can happen, either in life or in death.

~Socrates

Daily Zen Quote - November 26, 2013

Countless paths
lead to the mountain's summit
yet from it
the same moon shines
over the land.

~Ikkyu

Daily Zen Quote - November 25, 2013

If one thinks that one is following Zen by going contrary to every established form, one is hopelessly mistaken and has already fallen into another form, namely that of thinking that one must be free of formality.

~Sohaku Ogata

Daily Zen Quote - November 24, 2013

The Absolute, or union with the Absolute, is not something to be attained; one does not enter Nirvana, for entrance to a place one has never left is impossible.

~John Blofeld

Daily Zen Quote - November 23, 2013

Loosing and dropping off body and mind, your original face is clear before you.

~The Zazengi

Daily Zen Quote - November 22, 2013

Though it has no thought of keeping watch, it's not for naught that the scarecrow stands in the grain field.

~Dogen

Daily Zen Quote - November 21, 2013

What is it that dwells there
I know not
but my heart is full of awe
tears trickle.

~Medieval Japanese Verse

Daily Zen Quote - November 20, 2013

It is not the same thing to talk of bulls as to be in the bullring.

~Spanish Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - November 19, 2013

I believe the ultimate aim of all human beings is to obtain happiness and a sense of fulfillment...I have always stressed the importance of combining both the mental and material approach to achieving happiness for humankind.

~The Dalai Lama

Daily Zen Quote - November 18, 2013

We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.

~Marcel Proust

Daily Zen Quote - November 17, 2013

Ordinary is extraordinary!

~Soen

Daily Zen Quote - November 16, 2013

Nothing comes into existence nor does something disappear. Nothing is eternal, nor has anything any end. Nothing is identical or differentiated. Nothing moves hither and thither.

~Nagarjuna

Daily Zen Quote - November 15, 2013

When Dogen was studying in China he was reading the Buddhist scriptures, and his teacher asked why.
     "I want to learn what the ancestors did in the past," Dogen answered.
     "What for?" pressed the Master.
     "Because I would like to be a free from human suffering."
     "What for?"
     "Because sooner or later I would like to go back to Japan and help the village people and all sentient beings."
     "What for?" the Master asked again.
     At last Dogen didn't say anything.
     Finally, there was nothing to say, because the questions had touched the core of his human life, so-called death.

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - November 14, 2013

Having taken the no-form as your form,
Going and returning are not to be elsewhere.
Having taken the no-thought as your thought,
Singing and dancing become the voice of the law.

~Hakuin

Daily Zen Quote - November 13, 2013

Man always dies before he is fully born.

~Erich Fromm

Daily Zen Quote - November 12, 2013

When is a man in mere understanding? When he sees things as separated one from the other. And when is he beyond mere understanding? When he sees all in all.

~Meister Eckhart

Daily Zen Quote - November 11, 2013

The master Tan-hsia was traveling with several monks and stopped for the night in a monastery. The night was bitter cold and there was no firewood, so Tan-hsia took down a wooden image of the Buddha, chopped it into pieces, and used it for a fire. The monks were scandalized with this sacrilege, so Tan-hsia explained: "I only burned the statue to get to the sarira (sacred bone relic)."
     "You can't expect to find sarira in a piece of wood," the monks exclaimed.
     "Well, then," said Tan-hsia, "I am only burning a piece of wood."

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - November 10, 2013

Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity.

~Ray Bradbury

Daily Zen Quote - November 9, 2013

Body is identical with mind; appearance and reality are one and the same thing.

~Dogen

Daily Zen Quote - November 8, 2013

Out of discussion we call to vision, to those desiring to see we point the path; our teaching is a guiding in the way; the seeing must be the very act of him, who has made the choice.

~Plotinus

Daily Zen Quote - November 7, 2013

Look directly! Look directly! And you won't be fooled.

~Bassui

Daily Zen Quote - November 6, 2013

Once Rinzai was fast asleep on his meditation cushion. The master Obaku came into the hall and hit the wooden sounding board with his stick. Rinzai awoke, saw who it was, and fell promptly back to sleep. Meanwhile, further down the hall, the head monk Bokushu was sitting diligently in meditation. Obaku came up behind Bokushu and hit the sounding board again, shouting: "That young fellow in the lesser seat is really meditating. What do you think you're doing?"
     "What does the master want from me?" Bokushu replied. Obaku hit the board again, and then walked out.

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - November 5, 2013

If you wish to make gold, you must already have it.

~Zen of Alchemy

Daily Zen Quote - November 4, 2013

Conversion is held to come to an essentially depraved Man from an eternal God, while Satori is the realization of one's own inmost nature. Conversion takes place when something comes from outside and transforms the world, while Satori is just seeing the world as it really is, for to Zen the supernatural is natural, while to Christianity it is something not inherent in nature at all.

~Alan Watts

Daily Zen Quote - November 3, 2013

Everything is but we think it.

~Marcus Aurelius

Daily Zen Quote - November 2, 2013

Let go your hold!

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - November 1, 2013

He who listens to truth is not less than he who utters truth.

~Kahlil Gibran

Daily Zen Quote - October 31, 2013

What shall I leave behind?
empty skies
fields
dandelions
birds swooping
faces, faces
each veiled
each mirroring
the Faces of faces.
Farewell...
hands waving in the mist.

~Issa

Daily Zen Quote - October 30, 2013

We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.

~Lao-Tsu

Daily Zen Quote - October 29, 2013

The Buddhas in all directions as numerous as the sand grains of the Ganges River would be unable to estimate the merits of an hour's sitting in meditation of a single person.

~Dogen

Daily Zen Quote - October 28, 2013

Though in Kyoto
     I long for Kyoto.

~Basho

Daily Zen Quote - October 27, 2013

The Tao may be transmitted only to him who already has it.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - October 26, 2013

If you wish to seek the Buddha, look into your own being, for this being is Buddha himself.

~Bodhidharma

Daily Zen Quote - October 25, 2013

All know that the drop merges into the ocean, but few know that the ocean merges into the drop.

~Kabir

Daily Zen Quote - October 25, 2013

All know that the drop merges into the ocean, but few know that the ocean merges into the drop.

~Kabir

Daily Zen Quote - October 24, 2013

Great trees have great uses; small trees have small uses. Good and bad can all be used in their own way. None are to be discarded. Keep both good and bad friends. You mustn't reject anything. This is true Buddhism.

~Kyong Ho

Daily Zen Quote - October 23, 2013

Great Doubt, Great Death, Great Joy.

~Hakuin, on Religion

Daily Zen Quote - October 22, 2013

One day Governor Wang visited the temple and met Rinzai.
"Do the monks here read sutras?" he asked.
"No, they don't," said Rinzai.
"Do they learn meditation?"
"No," Rinzai said, "no meditation."
"No sutras, no meditation. What on earth are they doing here?"
"All I do is to make them buddhas and boddhisattvas," Rinzai replied.

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - October 21, 2013

Every single thing
Changes and is changing
Always in this world.
Yet with the same light
The moon goes on shining.

~Saigyo

Daily Zen Quote - October 20, 2013

Just boiling water and making tea, just drinking it. Nothing else.

~Soen's Tea Company

Daily Zen Quote - October 19, 2013

At high tide, the sea, they say, leaves a deep pool below the rock-shelf. There the women dip their water jars.

~Euripides "Haiku"

Daily Zen Quote - October 18, 2013

Zen is like soap. First you was with it, and then you wash off the soap.

~Yamaoka Tesshu

Daily Zen Quote - October 17, 2013

Though a man perform the meritorious deed of zazen but once, he annihilates forever the countless he has piled up.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - October 16, 2013

The shortest answer is doing.

~George Herbert

Daily Zen Quote - October 15, 2013

Pupil: What is the (mental) sword of Ummon?
Ummon: Hung!
Pupil: What is the one straight passage to Ummon?
Ummon: Most intimate!
Pupil: What is the eye of the true Law?
Ummon: Everywhere!
Pupil: What is the way?
Ummon: Forward!

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - October 14, 2013

When the eye wakes up to see, it suddenly stops taking anything for granted. The thing I draw, be it leaf, rosebush, woman, or child, is no longer a thing, no longer my "object."...By drawing it, I dignify it. I declare it worthy of total attention, as worthy of attention as I am myself, for sheer existence is the awesome mystery and miracle we share.

~Frederick Franck

Daily Zen Quote - October 13, 2013

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

~Jack Kornfield

Daily Zen Quote - October 12, 2013

A thousand mountain ranges separate the one who reflects from the one who is truly present.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - October 11, 2013

To know that you know, and to know that you don't know - that is the real wisdom.

~Confucius

Daily Zen Quote - October 10, 2013

The past is already past -
     don't try to recapture it.
The present doesn't stay -
     don't try to hold onto it.
The future is not arrived -
     don't think about it.
Whatever comes to your eye, leave it be.
There are no commandments to keep.

~Layman P'ang

Daily Zen Quote - October 9, 2013

Not what the eye sees, but that which makes the eye see, that is the Spirit.

~The Upanishads

Daily Zen Quote - October 8, 2013

Zen insight is not our awareness, but Being's awareness of itself in us.

~Thomas Merton

Daily Zen Quote - October 7, 2013

One of Patriarch Ma's disciples was asked:
"What is the Buddhist trinity and what does it mean?"
"Corn, wheat, and beans," replied the disciple.
"I don't understand."
"Then let us be happy and glorify the trinity."

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - October 6, 2013

My body will perish but if you follow my teachings, it will be the same as if I were alive.

~The Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - October 5, 2013

Cut off thought by the power of meditation.
By this alone nearly everyone can attain the Way.

~Dogen

Daily Zen Quote - October 4, 2013

You want to know what's in my heart?
From the beginning, just this! Just this!

~Ryokan

Daily Zen Quote - October 3, 2013

Master Tokusan spent years devoted to study of the sutras, especially The Diamond Sutra. But once he reached Zen insight under Master Ryutan, he took all of his treasured copies of The Diamond Sutra and its many commentaries, and put them in fire. "However deep your knowledge of profound mysteries," he said, "it is but a piece of hair placed in the vastness of space. However important your experience in worldly things, it is but a drop of water thrown into an abysmal ravine."

~Zen Story

Daily Zen Quote - October 2, 2013

Entering the forest, not a blade of grass moves.
Entering the water, not a ripple.

~Basho

Daily Zen Quote - October 1, 2013

There are only two diseases: one is riding an ass to search for an ass. The other is riding the ass and being unwilling to dismount...I say to you: do not ride the ass at all. You yourself are the ass. Mountains, rivers, and plains are all the ass. Why do you ride on it? If you do not ride, the universe in all directions becomes one wide expanse. With these diseases expelled, nothing remains to affect your mind. You need do nothing more.

~Ch-ing-Yuan

Daily Zen Quote - September 30, 2013

It's not a matter of using fewer things in order to simplify, or more things in order to elaborate, but paying attention to the circumstances of life. How can we respond to our world with respect?

~Jisho Warner

Daily Zen Quote - September 29, 2013

When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.

~Otto Von Bismarck

Daily Zen Quote - September 28, 2013

Religion is a way of walking, not a way of talking.

~William R. Inge

Daily Zen Quote - September 27, 2013

Ting Shang-tso asked Rinzai: "What is the essence of Buddhism?"
Rinzai descended from the master's seat, took the monk by this lapels, shook him, slapped him, and pushed him away. Ting Shang-tso just stood there.
"Why don't you bow?" asked a monk in the assembly.
Just as Ting bowed, he suddenly had a great awakening.

~Zen Story

Daily Zen Quote - September 26, 2013

There is only one marvelous and nothing but the marvelous.

~Henry Miller

Daily Zen Quote - September 25, 2013

Meditation itself is not Zen. Zen is meditation, but it is also thinking, eating, drinking, sitting, standing...all of these things are nothing else but Zen....Zazen is sitting Zen. But this is not the Zen. Don't be mistaken about this point.

~Soen

Daily Zen Quote - September 24, 2013

One time an old monk was staying with one of Ma-tsu's disciples. Clouds broke and the sun shone on the window. "Is that the sunlight that touches the window?" the monk asked,, "or is it the window that touches the sunlight?"
Ma-tsu's disciple looked at him and said: "Brother, there is a visitor in your room. You had better return there."

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - September 23, 2013

Hesitate and it's lost.
Waver, and it pulls further and further away.

~Bankei

Daily Zen Quote - September 22, 2013

There is real self in non-self.

~Mahaparinirvana Sutra

Daily Zen Quote - September 21, 2013

When you've got it, there's no place for it but a poem.

~Wu Pen

Daily Zen Quote - September 20, 2013

The main purpose of Buddhism is to form the habit of practice as a vow forever. This is just talking a journey in the universe, day by day, step by step. It is like walking in a mist. We don't know what the mist is, we don't know where we are walking or why; all we have to do is just walk.

~Dainin Katagiri

Daily Zen Quote - September 19, 2013

Seppo and Kin-zan were traveling through the mountains when they saw a leaf of the rape floating down the street. Kin-zan said: "Let us go up, dear brother, along the stream that we may find a safe living up in the mountain. I hope we shall find a good teacher in him."
"No," Seppo said. "He cannot be a sage who wastes even one leaf of the rape."

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - September 18, 2013

The bamboo shadows are sweeping the stairs,
But no dust is stirred.
The moonlight penetrates deep into the bottom of the pool,
But no trace is left in the water.

~Zen Poem

Daily Zen Quote - September 17, 2013

I point the man directly to his own mind and let him see his own true nature and become Buddha by himself.

~Bodhidharma

Daily Zen Quote - September 16, 2013

When Zen master Siubi was asked "What is the secret of Zen?" he pointed to a grove of bamboo, saying, "See how long these are! See how short these are!"

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - September 15, 2013

If you now comprehend it, where is that which you did not comprehend before?

~Ch'Ing-Yuan

Daily Zen Quote - September 14, 2013

The seeing have the world in common.

~Heraclitus

Daily Zen Quote - September 13, 2013

Sitting alone among secluded bamboos
I play the zither, whistle on and on;
Deep in the woods, unknown to the world,
A bright moon comes and shines on me.

~Wang-Wei

Daily Zen Quote - September 12, 2013

One day Rinzai stood up before the assembled monks and said: "I spent twenty years with my master, Obaku. Three times I ask him about the meaning of Buddhism, and three times he gave me a blow with his stick. It was like being patted by a bunch of mugwort. I'd love another taste of that stick now. Who can give it to me?"
A monk stepped forward: "I can!"
Rinzai held out the stick. The monk tried taking it. Rinzai struck him.

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - September 11, 2013

In Zen, there is no such thing as a "mere" drop of water; a "mere" piece of greens, or a "mere" grain of rice. A single drop of water is Buddha, the slightest movement of the mind is the movement of the Buddha-mind.

~Reikichi Kita & Kiichi Nagaya

Daily Zen Quote - September 10, 2013

Self-consciousness is the indispensable means to enlightenment; at the same time it is the greatest obstacle in the way.

~Aldous Huxley

Daily Zen Quote - September 9, 2013

Teng-Yin-feng was about to die, and he said to the mourners at the temple: "I have seen monks die sitting, and I have seen monks die while lying down, but have any ever died while standing up?"
"Yes, some," answered a few of the monks.
"What about upside down?" Teng asked.
"Never heard of such a thing!" they replied.
With that Teng stood on his head and died.

~Zen Story

Daily Zen Quote - September 8, 2013

Acting without acting.

~Taoist Saying

Daily Zen Quote - September 7, 2013

Think the unthinkable. How to think the unthinkable? Be without thoughts.

~The Zazengi

Daily Zen Quote - September 6, 2013

The joy I felt...
With every form of creature, as it looked
Towards the Uncreated with a countenance
Of adoration, with an eye of love.

~William Wordsworth

Daily Zen Quote - September 5, 2013

Rabbi Enoch, a disciple of Rabbi Bunam, longed to enter the house of his teacher and talk with him. For a whole year he tried to approach Rabbi Bunam's house, but each time he got close he lost his nerve. Finally it got so bad that he wound up in a field near the Rabbi's house, and walked through it, weeping, until he finally couldn't resist and knocked on the Rabbi's door.
"Why do you weep?" Rabbi Bunam asked him when he opened the door.
"Am I not a creature in the world, and am I not created with eyes and heart and all limbs, and I do not know for what purpose I was created, and what good I am in the world?"
"Little fool," the Rabbi answered, "I too go about the world so. Tonight you shall dine with me."

~Jewish Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - September 4, 2013

Jot down your haiku before the heat of perception cools.

~Basho

Daily Zen Quote - September 3, 2013

Zen is not a particular state but the normal state: silent, peaceful, un-agitated. In Zazen neither intention, analysis, specific not imagination take place. It's enough just to be without hypocrisy, dogmatism, arrogance - embracing all opposites.

~Taisen Deshimaru

Daily Zen Quote - September 2, 2013

Do you work, then step back. The only path to serenity.

~Lao-Tsu

Daily Zen Quote - September 1, 2013

When I draw a tree I am faced with a mystery. I must enter into this mystery or fail. Whatever I draw confronts me with the mystery of Being.

~Frederick Franck

Daily Zen Quote - August 31, 2013

Let one's ideal rise as high as the crown of Vairocana (the highest of the Buddhas) while his life may be so full of humility as to make him prostrate before a baby's feet.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - August 30, 2013

Ten years searching in the deep forest.
Today great laughter at the edge of the lake.

~Soen

Daily Zen Quote - August 29, 2013

When you come out of samadhi (from sitting), move the body slowly, rise calmly, and do not be quick or violent in your movements. After coming out of samadhi, also, use every means all through the day to guard your samadhi-power as you would protect a child.

~The Zazengi

Daily Zen Quote - August 28, 2013

We do not learn by experience, but by our capacity for experience.

~The Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - August 27, 2013

Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

~T.S. Eliot

Daily Zen Quote - August 26, 2013

The unchangeable is known by holding up a flower. Longevity is realized by a smile.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - August 25, 2013

More wisdom is latent in things-as-they-are than in all the words men use.

~Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Daily Zen Quote - August 24, 2013

The Scholar: Whither goes the soul when the body dies?
The Master: There is no necessity for it to go anywhere.

~Jakob Bohme

Daily Zen Quote - August 23, 2013

The Road has two rules only: Begin and Continue, and the Buddha left us a detailed guide-book for the Way.

~Christmas Humphreys

Daily Zen Quote - August 22, 2013

When you're awake, you're awake in the same Buddha-mind as when you were sleeping. You sleep in the Buddha-mind while you sleep and are up and about in the Buddha-mind while you are up and about. That way, you always stay in the Buddha-mind. You're never apart from it for an instant...There's not a moment when you're not a Buddha.

~Bankei

Daily Zen Quote - August 21, 2013

A sudden clash of thunder,
the mind-doors burst open.
And lo, there sitteth the old man in all his homeliness.

~Chao-pien

Daily Zen Quote - August 20, 2013

This is the Buddhist life and the Zen life, as I understand it; a life lived in full realization of who we really are and what this world we live in really is; a life lived simply, naturally, spontaneously, and awarely; a life dedicated to infinite gratitude to the past, infinite gratitude and service to the present, and infinite responsibility to the future. Such a life is truly a religious life, and toward such a life Zen teaching and discipline lead us. Yes, truly, Zen is a religion.

~Ruth Fuller Sasaki

Daily Zen Quote - August 19, 2013

"What is Zen?" What right have you to waste precious time asking such a foolish question? Go on straight forwardly!

~Nyogen Senzaki

Daily Zen Quote - August 18, 2013

Vomit completely you own ego.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - August 17, 2013

The face you already had before you were born, even before your parents were born, your Original Face.

~Hui-neng, on the True Self

Daily Zen Quote - August 16, 2013

A Chinese official asked one of Ma-tsu's disciples the meaning of the Buddhist canon. The disciple waved a closed fist and said: "Do you understand?"
"No," confessed the official.
The monk roared: "Fool! Do you not recognize a fist?"

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - August 15, 2013

What a naughty fellow he was,
The man who called Buddha.
Because of him many people are driven to puzzling.

~Ikkyu

Daily Zen Quote - August 14, 2013

Buddha taught that there is no ego either in man or in dharma...The flower has no ego. In the spring it blooms; it the autumn it dies. The stream has no ego. The wind blows and waves appear, the river bed drops abruptly and there is a waterfall. We ourselves must really feel these things.

~Sokei-an

Daily Zen Quote - August 13, 2013

If I own a cow, the cow owns me.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Daily Zen Quote - August 12, 2013

Life is a journey. Time is a river. The door is ajar.

~Jim Butcher

Daily Zen Quote - August 11, 2013

When one talks about Zen it fills me with disgust.

~Zen Master

Daily Zen Quote - August 10, 2013

The Tao is not classifiable as either knowledge or non-knowledge.

~Nan-Chuan

Daily Zen Quote - August 9, 2013

The Layman P'ang traveled to the Mount Nan-yueh monastery and asked Master Sekito: "Who is the man who doesn't accompany the ten thousand dharmas?"
Sekito responded by covering P'ang's mouth with his hand. The Layman was instantly enlightened.

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - August 8, 2013

All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost.

~J.R.R. Tolkien

Daily Zen Quote - August 7, 2013

The world - formless and boundless! Nothing! Not self, not even Buddha.

~Shin'ichi Hisamatsu

Daily Zen Quote - August 6, 2013

When you look, it is formless;
When you call, it echoes.
It is the great Dharma commander,
Transmitting the sutras
Through precepts of mind.

As saltiness in water,
Transparency in color,
Surely it is there,
But its form is invisible;
The Mind King is also thus,
Residing in the body.

- Master Ful

Daily Zen Quote - August 5, 2013

There is no large, no small. Infinity lies before my eyes.

~Seng-Ts'an

Daily Zen Quote - August 4, 2013

Of an early death showing no signs the cicada sings.

~Basho

Daily Zen Quote - August 3, 2013

With everyone born human, a poet-an artist-is born, who dies young and who is survived by an adult.

~Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve

Daily Zen Quote - August 2, 2013

Heroes become Buddhas with one thought, but lazy people are given the three collections of scriptures to traverse.

~Buddhist Saying

Daily Zen Quote - August 1, 2013

There is nothing infinite apart from finite things.

~D.T. Suzuki

Daily Zen Quote - July 31, 2013

Master Huang-po was traveling with another monk when they came to a river. Without even breaking stride the monk walked across the water, then beckoned Huang-po to do the same. Huang-po said, "If I had known he was going to be that kind of fellow, I would have broken his legs before we reached the water."

~Zen Story

Daily Zen Quote - July 30, 2013

The world is poetical intrinsically; what it means is simply itself. Its significance is the enormous mystery of its existence and our awareness of its existence.

~Aldous Huxley

Daily Zen Quote - July 29, 2013

The beginning of wisdom is calling things by their right names.

~Chinese Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - July 28, 2013

We don't see the world as it is. We see it as we are.

~Anais Nin

Daily Zen Quote - July 27, 2013

If you base your understanding of Zen on the secondhand notes from some dead guy, just wrap your notebooks in squares of cloth and declare them secret - you are nothing but a blind idiot.

~Rinzai

Daily Zen Quote - July 26, 2013

A monk asked Ma-tsu, "Why do you teach 'Mind is Buddha'?"
"To stop a baby from crying," said Ma-tsu.
"When the crying has stopped, what then?" the monk asked.
Ma-tsu said, "Then I teach 'Not mind, not Buddha.'"
"How about someone who isn't attached to either?"
"I would tell him 'Not beings.'"
Then the monk said, "And what if you met a man unattached to all things. What would you tell him?"
"I would just let him experience the great Tao."

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - July 25, 2013

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.

~Niels Bohr

Daily Zen Quote - July 24, 2013

In what ways do my hands resemble the Buddha's hands?

~Zen Koan

Daily Zen Quote - July 23, 2013

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

~John Muir

Daily Zen Quote - July 22, 2013

Zen is a religion of tranquility. It is not a religion that arouses emotion, causing tears to well from our eyes and stirring us to should aloud the name of God. When the soul and the mind meet, in that moment complete unity between the universe and the self will be realized.

~Sokei-an

Daily Zen Quote - July 21, 2013

People would rather sleep their way through life than stay awake for it.

~Edward Albee

Daily Zen Quote - July 20, 2013

Sitting lost in sitting.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - July 19, 2013

Samsara (daily life) and Nirvana do not differ. Find the Buddha-heart in your own heart.

~Zen Master, on "What is the basic idea of Zen?"

Daily Zen Quote - July 18, 2013

The whole of humanity, in space and time, in one immense army galloping beside and before and behind, each of us, in an overwhelming charge, able to beat down every resistance and clear the most formidable obstacles.

~Henri-Louis Bergson

Daily Zen Quote - July 17, 2013

July 17, 2013
Before the mountain lies a patch of fallow land. Hands folded in salute, I repeatedly asked the Patriarch: How many times have you sold and then rebought this land?
It was in pity, he replied, for its wind-enticing pines and bamboos.

~Fa-Yenv

Daily Zen Quote - July 16, 2013

Having no thing in mind, and no mind in things.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - July 15, 2013

A Zen master was about to die. He called the disciple who was to be his successor and began dictating his will in great detail.
"Please rest, Master," the disciple said. "I can follow these instructions."
But the master persisted in going over the details of his will, backward and forward, until finally the disciple shouted: "Shut up!"
"Ah," said the Master, "I am so happy to have such a trustworthy son as you." He then passed away in peace.

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - July 14, 2013

All beings are Buddha-nature.

~Dogen

Daily Zen Quote - July 13, 2013

All beings have the Buddha-nature.

~Mahaparinirvana Sutra

Daily Zen Quote - July 12, 2013

The sound of the rain drops is heard in the empty hall.

~Hekiganroku

Daily Zen Quote - July 11, 2013

A disciple thought he could prove he had reached enlightenment by showing the master that he had reached enlightenment by showing the master that he had burned all the cooks of Confucius.
    "You'd do better by burning the books within yourself," the master countered.

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - July 10, 2013

The sound of the water says what I think.

~Chuang-Tzu

Daily Zen Quote - July 9, 2013

Rinzai went to a feast accompanied by Fuke, a mysterious figure sometimes thought of as a divine fool, other times a supernatural presence. While they were eating, Rinzai presented Fuke with a koan: "A hair swallows the vast ocean, a mustard seed contains Mount Sumeru. Does this happen by means of otherworldly powers, or is the whole body like this?" Fuke responded by kicking the table.
     "Ruffian!" Rinzai cried.
     "What place is this to speak of rough and refined?" Fuke replied.
     The next day they went to another meal from a supporter, and Rinzai said:
"How does this meal compare with yesterday's?" Fuke kicked over the table again.
      "You certainly understand, but you're still a ruffian," Rinzai said admiringly.
      Fuke replied: "You blind man! How can you preach roughness and refinement in the Buddhadharma?"

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - July 8, 2013

At one stroke I forgot all my
    knowledge!
There's no use for artificial discipline,
For, move as I will, I manifest the ancient way.

~Hsiang-Yen

Daily Zen Quote - July 7, 2013

With hands of emptiness
     I take hold of the plow.
While walking, I ride the
     water buffalo.

~Zen Koan

Daily Zen Quote - July 6, 2013

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Daily Zen Quote - July 5, 2013

The morning mists rise
     Fuji!
        Ah, the day is saved

~Issa

Daily Zen Quote - July 4, 2013

In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.

~Bertrand Russell

Daily Zen Quote - July 3, 2013

I and other humans no difference.

~Ikkyu

Daily Zen Quote - July 2, 2013

A thousand different paths lead to the No-gate of the Great Way. The desire to enter the gate is not the prerogative of the young or old, men or women; the wise are not preferred above the foolish nor the rich above the poor. The essential requirement is that one hold steadfastly to true faith.

~Rev. Zuigan Goto

Daily Zen Quote - July 1, 2013

Think of Zen, of the Void, of Good and Evil and you are bound hand and foot. Think only and entirely and completely of what you are doing at the moment and you are as free as a bird.

~R.H. Blyth

Daily Zen Quote - June 30, 2013

God lives within us.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - June 29, 2013

Unless you become it, you cannot draw it.

~Zen of Drawing

Daily Zen Quote - June 28, 2013

The purpose of going to a solitary grassy place and doing zazen is to search for our self-nature. Now, at this moment, where is your self-nature?
When you have attained your self-nature, you can liberate yourself from birth and death. How would you free yourself when you about to die?
When you free yourself of birth and death, you will know where to go. After death, where do you go?

~"Three Barriers" Koan

Daily Zen Quote - June 27, 2013

The rose is without why
it blossoms because it blossoms

~Angelus Silesius

Daily Zen Quote - June 26, 2013

Our mind is like a clear glass of water. If we put salt into the water, it becomes salt water; sugar, it becomes sugar water...But originally the water is clear. No thinking, no mind. No mind, no problem.

~Seung Sahn

Daily Zen Quote - June 25, 2013

Verily, oneself is the Eye, the endless Eye.

~The Upanishads

Daily Zen Quote - June 24, 2013

Don't dwell upon colors to bring forth the mind; don't dwell upon phenomena of sound, smell, taste or touch to bring forth the mind; dwell nowhere and bring forth the mind.

~Diamond Sutra

Daily Zen Quote - June 23, 2013

If you have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy a hyacinth.

~Persian Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - June 22, 2013

There is only one thing certain and that is that nothing is certain.

~G. K. Chesterton

Daily Zen Quote - June 21, 2013

A scholar felt his master had been holding back Zen's central secrets from him.
    During a walk in the mountains the master asked if the scholar could smell the fragrance of the full-blown mountain laurels.
    "Yes," said the scholar.
    "You see!" said the master. "I am hiding nothing from you!"

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - June 20, 2013

Wonderful - the mood of this moment - distant, vast, known to me only!

~Ryokan

Daily Zen Quote - June 19, 2013

The wisdom of the past, present, and future Buddhas is imminent in our own mind. If we cannot enlighten ourselves, we have to seek the guidance of pious and learned masters. Those, however, who can enlighten themselves, don't need such extraneous help. Why? Because of our innate wisdom through which we can liberate ourselves.

~Hui-neng

Daily Zen Quote - June 18, 2013

I have a boy without a bride.
I have a girl without a husband.
Happy family circle:
we speak of the Unborn.

~Layman P'ang

Daily Zen Quote - June 17, 2013

One thought of doubt in your mind is the devil.

~Rinzai

Daily Zen Quote - June 16, 2013

Hoyen Zenji was training when he heard a priest say, "Zen is just like knowing the coldness or warmth which a man knows by himself."
     Hoyen then asked: "The coldness or warmth are what I know. What is self-knowing? "

~Zen Koan

Daily Zen Quote - June 15, 2013

He who does not work shall not eat.

~Hyakujo

Daily Zen Quote - June 14, 2013

Monk: What is the meaning of Zen?
Master: When I was in Nanking last time, I made a coat that weighed seven pounds.

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - June 13, 2013

Whatever has entered through the gate of the six senses is not true treasure.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - June 12, 2013

The aim of life, it's only aim, is to be free. Free of what? Free to do what? Only to be free, that is all.

~R. H. Blyth

Daily Zen Quote - June 11, 2013

If one wishes to enter the Way of the Buddha, he must not hesitate to go to a master and seek training. He must cross the sea or climb mountains, if necessary. But if one does not wish to enter the Way of the Buddha, nobody will be able to lead him to the Way.

~Dogen

Daily Zen Quote - June 10, 2013

It was a morning in early summer. A silver haze shimmered and trembled over the lime trees. The air was laden with a caress...I climbed a tree stump and felt suddenly immersed in Itness. I did not call it by that name. I had no need for words. It and I were one.

~Bernard Berenson

Daily Zen Quote - June 9, 2013

A moment is a thousand years...Past and future, are they not eternal now?

~The Third Patriarch

Daily Zen Quote - June 8, 2013

The true Zazen mind is not the mind seeking enlightenment.

~Kaizen Zenji

Daily Zen Quote - June 7, 2013

Master Seisetsu was on a fund-raising mission for his temple when a merchant came and brought 500 yen. The master received the money, but without saying thanks. After a bit the merchant said, "500 yen is a lot of money, and yet you have no words of appreciation?"
     Immediately the master said, "You're the one who has done a good thing. Why must I thank you?"
     With that the merchant understood what the highest good is.

~Zen Story

Daily Zen Quote - June 6, 2013

The very act of observing disturbs the system.

~Werner Heisenberg

Daily Zen Quote - June 5, 2013

After Rabbi Moshe of Kobryn died, the Rabbi of Kotzk asked a disciple of the deceased what had been the most important things in the Rabbi's life. "Whatever he was engaged in at the moment," the disciple replied.

~Jewish Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - June 4, 2013

Whatever you say it is; is simply what you say it is.

~Alfred Korzybski

Daily Zen Quote - June 3, 2013

Meditation in activity is a hundred, a thousand, a million times superior to meditation in repose.

~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - June 2, 2013

I had a flowering branch placed by my pillow. As I draw it faithfully, I feel I am gradually coming to grasp the secrets of creation.

~Masaoka Shiki

Daily Zen Quote - June 1, 2013

Who is the master of hearing?

~Zen Koan

Daily Zen Quote - May 31, 2013

You monks, straining day after day to understand what Zen might be, are barking up the wrong tree! what you can't seem to see is that all is beyond understanding, not just one thing or many things. Every single thing is fundamentally beyond our understanding. The Really Real in its Suchness is beyond our understanding. Just see it in this light.

~Butsugen

Daily Zen Quote - May 30, 2013

I owe everything to my teacher because he never told me a thing nor explained anything to me.

~Zen Master

Daily Zen Quote - May 29, 2013

When the Ten Thousand
   things are seen
in their Oneness
we return to the Origins
where we have always been.

~Seng-Ts'an

Daily Zen Quote - May 28, 2013

When you are convinced that all the exits are blocked, either you take to believing in miracles or you stand still like the hummingbird. The miracle is that the honey is always there, right under your nose, only you were too busy searching elsewhere to realize it. The worst is not death but being blind, blind to the fact that everything about life is in the nature of the miraculous.

~Henry Miller

Daily Zen Quote - May 27, 2013

Not last night,
   not this morning,
      melon flowers bloomed.

~Basho

Daily Zen Quote - May 26, 2013

God made the senses turn outwards, man therefore looks outwards, not into himself. But occasionally a daring soul, desiring immortality, has looked back and found himself.

~The Upanishads

Daily Zen Quote - May 25, 2013

If you have attained something, this is the surest proof that you have gone astray. Therefore, not to have is to have, silence is thunder, ignorance is enlightenment.
~D.T. Suzuki

Daily Zen Quote - May 24, 2013

The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn.

~Gloria Steinem

Daily Zen Quote - May 23, 2013

For years the great master-to-be, Rinzai, studied under Obaku. One day he asked:
 "What is the fundamental teaching of Buddhism?"
        Obaku struck him with a stick. Three times Rinzai asked, and three time was struck, and so he decided to leave Obaku, and, at his master's suggestion, went to study with Taigu. When Taigu asked why, Rinzai told him the story, and Taigu said: "How kind he was to you!"
        All at once Rinzai had a great understanding and said: "I see now, Obaku's Zen is nothing special."
     "What?" demanded Taigu. With that, Rinzai struck him three times and went back to Obaku. When he explained everything that happened, Obaku said: "What a talkative man that Taigu is. If he were to come here, he shall be severely beaten."
      "Why wait?" Rinzai said, and walked up to Obaku and gave him a slap on the cheek.

~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - May 22, 2013

Stop your wandering, look penetratingly into your inherent nature, concentrate your spiritual energy, sit in zazen, and break through.
~Bassui's Zen

Daily Zen Quote - May 21, 2013

When clouded, the pearl is taken to be a piece of
      earth ware;
But suddenly self-conscious, it becomes the perfect
      pearl.
Ignorance and wisdom are one.
Remember that all things are mere appearances.
Seeing that yourself differs not from the Buddha,
why then seek elsewhere for that which is the ideal?
~Tao-Hsuan

Daily Zen Quote - May 20, 2013

Modern men are mistaking the means of life for its purpose. In order to possess the means, they are sacrificing the goal.
~Reikichi Kita and Kiichi Nagaya

Daily Zen Quote - May 19, 2013

One inch sitting, one inch Buddha.
~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - May 18, 2013

Monk: What is the meaning of Zen?
Master: My dear monk, how fine are the peach blossoms today!
~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - May 17, 2013

Yet another elder said: If you see a young monk by his own will climbing up to heaven, take him by the foot and throw him to the ground, because what he is doing is not good for him.
~Zen Instruction

Daily Zen Quote - May 16, 2013

These are the thoughts of all men in all ages and lands,
     they are not original with me.
If they are not yours as much as mine they are nothing
     or next to nothing.
If they do not enclose everything they are next to
     nothing.
If they are not the riddle and the untying of the riddle
     they are nothing.
If they are not just as close as they are different
     they are nothing.
~Walt Whitman

Daily Zen Quote - May 15, 2013

All deeds ultimately bring one back to the impermanent, because their forces all have their final day. They are like a dart discharged through the air: when its strength is exhausted, it turns and falls to the ground. Thus do they all revert to the wheel of life and death.
~Hsi-yun

Daily Zen Quote - May 14, 2013

Many Japanese use the word Zen, but very few understand what it really is. Zen sees the whole universe as one's own true self. It says that heaven, earth, and man grew from the same root and everything in this world is interrelated.
~Nyogen Senzaki

Daily Zen Quote - May 13, 2013

Socrates used to walk through the streets and marketplaces of Athens, teaching his students, "You must understand yourself. You must understand yourself. You must understand yourself."
    One day a student asked, "Sir, you always say that we must understand ourselves. But do you understand yourself?"
    "No, I don't know myself," Socrates replied. "But I understand this 'don't know.'"

~Western Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - May 12, 2013

On the mountain road
         the sun arose -
    suddenly
         the fragrance of plum
             flowers.
~Basho

Daily Zen Quote - May 11, 2013

That land of Bliss and Glory exists above us, under us, around us, within us, without us, if we open our eyes to see.
~Kaiten Nukariya

Daily Zen Quote - May 10, 2013

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.
~Shunryu Suzuki

Daily Zen Quote - May 9, 2013

The little things in life are as interesting as the big ones.
~Henry David Thoreau

Daily Zen Quote - May 8, 2013

It is held that Zazen and enlightenment are different things. This opinion is wrong. Zazen is the full expression of Real Enlightenment.
~Dogen

Daily Zen Quote - May 7, 2013

Shui-lao was a student of the great master Ma-tsu when he asked the classic question of Zen students: "What is the meaning of the Boddhidharma coming from the West?"
     Ma-tsu immediately kicked him in the chest, knocking him down.
     The kick enlightened Shui-lao instantly, and he got to his feet, clapping his hands and unable to stop laughing. Later when Shui-lao was asked about his enlightenment, he answered: "Ever since the Master kicked me I've not been able to stop laughing."
~Zen Story

Daily Zen Quote - May 6, 2013

Having penetrated through the cloud-barrier once
     and for all,
The way is open in all directions;
Day in, day out, I am free from the distinction of
     host or guest,
With a fresh breeze rising at each of my steps.
~Daito Kokushi's Enlightenment Poem

Daily Zen Quote - May 5, 2013

Divinity lies all about us, and culture is too hidebound to even suspect the fact.
~William James

Daily Zen Quote - May 4, 2013

The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness;
only when there is stillness in movement can the spiritual rhythm appear which pervades heaven and earth.
~Saikontan

Daily Zen Quote - May 3, 2013

"Who were the sages who taught the Buddha?" the Master was asked.
     He replied, "The dog and the cat."
~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - May 2, 2013

A young monk came to study with Sho Zenji.
      "Where shall I enter the novitiate?"
the monk asked.
      "Do you hear the mountain stream?"
Sho Zenji asked.
      "Yes," answered the monk.
      "Then enter there."
~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - May 1, 2013

It is just as is and ain't no is-er.
~Rural American Zen

Daily Zen Quote - April 30, 2013

Even though a man may be incapable of making himself worthy of the creator of the cosmos, he ought to try to make himself worthy of the cosmos. He ought to transform himself from being a man into the nature of the cosmos and become, if one may say so, a little cosmos.
~Philo

Daily Zen Quote - April 29, 2013

It's so much better
     to close your eyes, sit in your study
     lower the curtains, sweep the floor,
     burn incense.
It's beautiful to listen to the wind,
     listen to the rain,
     take a walk when you feel energetic,
     and when you're tired go to sleep.
~Yang Wanli

Daily Zen Quote - April 28, 2013

The Buddha is not the Buddha, therefore he is called Buddha.
~D.T. Suzuki

Daily Zen Quote - April 27, 2013

Can there be bliss when all that lives must suffer? Shalt thou be saved and hear the whole world cry?
~The Voice of the Silence

Daily Zen Quote - April 26, 2013

Late one night a thief wielding a big sword broke into Master Taigan's hut. Taigan, who was reading a book, looked up and said: "What do you want? My money or my life?"
     "Your money," demanded the thief.
     Taigan handed him his purse and went back to reading, as if nothing had happened. The thief crept out of the room, feeling ill at ease.
     "Wait!" yelled the master. The thief froze, terrified. "Don't forget to shut the door!"
     Days later, when the thief was caught, he confessed that he'd never felt more afraid than when the Buddhist priest called after him.
~Zen Story

Daily Zen Quote - April 25, 2013

Miracles of miracles, I draw water, I chop wood.
~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - April 24, 2013

Zen is concerned only with direct experience, either of the intuition, by way of the experience of satori, or by the other end of the spectrum, as it were, on the physical plane.
~Christopher Humphreys

((Satori - a Japanese Buddhist term for awakening, "comprehension; understanding"))

Daily Zen Quote - April 23, 2013

My hear
that was rapt away
by the wild cherry blossoms -
will it return to my body
when they scatter?
~Kotomichi

Daily Zen Quote - April 22, 2013

Every existing thing sentient or non-sentient, is holy in essence. From this realization arises the certainty that everything and everyone, no matter how lowly or how depraved, intrinsically is Buddha, is destined for salvation, will ultimately realize Buddhahood.
~Ruth Fuller Sasaki

Daily Zen Quote - April 21, 2013

The Buddha is you, listening to me, right now before my eyes.
~Rinzai, when asked about the nature of the Buddha, Buddhism and Enlightenment.

Daily Zen Quote - April 20, 2013

Reciting part of a sutra with the desire to benefit others is like reciting a recipe in the hope it will prevent people from starving.
~Bassui

Daily Zen Quote - April 19, 2013

There should not be any particular teaching. Teaching is in each moment...
~Shunryu Suzuki

Prayers for West, TX and Boston, MA

This is not one of my regular blog post but I thought that I would put this out there. I am praying for those that were affected by the fertilizer plant exploding in West, TX and also my prayers are going out to those that were affected by the Boston Bombing. I pray not only for the victims but their families, friends as well as those in the rescue processes in both states. As I have sat here and watched the news, I have watched two cities come together to overcome these tragedies and it gives me hope that perhaps the world is not all bad as it sometimes seems to be.
Watching the people of Boston come together, people opening their homes up for strangers who couldn't return to their hotel room, random people helping strangers who were hurt and injured during the bombing, gives me hope for the future.  My heart goes out to the victims that lost their lives to this and I feel that there were blessings that the death toll was not what it could have been. My prayers also go out to the families who have loved ones that are still in the hospitals and I wish them a quick and steady recovery.
Watching the news coverage this morning of the explosion in West, TX, my prayers and thoughts go out to that community and its inhabitants as well. Just as in Boston, this small town has come together and every person is ready to help their neighbor which again gives me hope.
Watching these two communities come together just gives me such hope that the world is not as bad, or dark, as it seems at times and that perhaps we can all come together to make it a better place, not only when tragedies such as these happen. So I applaud the people of these communities, and those that are willing to help them in any way they can. It really does give me hope for the future. Again my prayers and thoughts go out to all of the people that were affected in these tragedies.

Daily Zen Quote - April 18, 2013

Buddhism counsels independence of thought...explains the whole reason of things, throwing a new and startling light on the mystery of life and death. No longer a baffling riddle, life becomes a wonderful gift that each man may shape for himself. He may ruin his life by wrongdoing, or he may make it a beautiful thing. Man is master of himself and his fate. He himself holds the key to the mystery of life.
~Nyogen Senzaki

Daily Zen Quote - April 17, 2013

Each moment is a place you've never been.
~Mark Strand

Daily Zen Quote - April 16, 2013

The symbol is to express an idea and is to be discarded when the idea is understood. Words are to explain thoughts and out to be silenced when the thoughts are already absorbed.
~Hu Shih

Daily Zen Quote - April 15, 2013

The spider dances her web without knowing there are flies that will get caught in it. The fly, dancing nonchalantly on a sunbeam, gets caught without knowing what lies in store. But through both of them "It" dances, and inside and outside are united in this dance. So, too, the archer hits the target without having aimed - more I cannot say.
~Eugen Herrigel

Daily Zen Quote - April 14, 2013

For quiet sitting in meditation
No need for a place by a
     mountain stream.
When the mind is entirely
     empty,
Even the fire is cool and
     refreshing.
~Osho

Daily Zen Quote - April 14, 2013

Fire can't burn fire.
~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - April 12, 2013

Mistakes are the portals of discovery.
~James Joyce

Daily Zen Quote - April 11, 2013

The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision.
~Helen Keller

Daily Zen Quote - April 10, 2013

A Zen priest was jailed several times after getting caught stealing small items from his neighbors.
"Please," a friend begged him, "stop stealing. I will provide you with that you need."
     "It's not that," the priest replied. "I steal so I can get back to the prisoners, and bring them the message about the Way."
~Zen Story

Daily Zen Quote - April 9, 2013

Zen meditation is the attainment of Buddhahood through our practice. It is life and vitality itself.
~Reiho Masunaga

Daily Zen Quote - April 8, 2013

"How old is the Buddha?" a Master asked his monks.
One answered: "As old as I am, Master."
"Fine," the Master replied. "And how old you are?"
"As old as the Buddha."
~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - April 7, 2013

Enlightenment is not imagining figures of light but making the darkness conscious.
~Carl Gustav Jung

Daily Zen Quote - April 6, 2013

Those who cling to life are dead, and those who defy death live.
~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - April 5, 2012

People must get into some trouble before they do much thinking. As someone put it: "Man seems to jump from a hitch to a hunch." If man tries out enough things, maybe he'll learn something.
~John Dewey

Daily Zen Quote - April 4, 2013

Sin which is the result of passions, and happiness which is the fruit of virtue, are imagined as quite opposed to each other. But seen in the light of true wisdom, each of them is no more than the activity of the Absolute, and we cannot speak of bondage or liberation.
~The Vimalakirti Sutra

Daily Zen Quote - April 3, 2013

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
~Plato

Daily Zen Quote - April 2, 2013

I and the ten thousand things are of One Root.
~Wan Shi

Daily Zen Quote - April 1, 2013

The prior moment of thinking, in which there is attachment to things, is that of affliction. The next moment of thinking, in which there is separation from things, is that of Perfect Wisdom.
~The Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 31, 2013

The one awakened liberated sees all things as one unseparated.
~Angelus Silesius

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 30, 2013

There are more truths in twenty-four hours of a man's life than in all the philosophies.
~Raoul Vaneigem

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 29, 2013

Knowledge is learning something every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day.
~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 28, 2013

That is what you are, that is what I am, that is what everything in the universe is - beginningless, endless life, infinite, boundless, eternal Life. That is what we must realize. And to this realization Zen practice leads us step by step. This is the aim of Zen. This is true satori.
~Ruth Fuller Sasaki

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 27, 2013

"I see nobody on the road," said Alice.
   "I only wish I had such eyes," the King remarked in a fretful tone. "To be able to see Nobody! And at that distance too!"
~Lewis Carroll

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 26, 2013

The roaring waterfall
is the Buddha's golden mouth.
The mountains in the distance
are his pure luminous body.
How many thousands of poems
have flowed through me tonight!
And tomorrow I won't be able
to repeat even one word.
~Su Tung-p'o

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 25, 2013

For years I suffered in snow
    and frost.
Now I am startled at pussy
    willows falling.
~Tozan

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 24, 2013

Although his life is spent in the midst of the nameable, he is far away and unnameable.
~Liu Chiang-Ch'ing

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 23, 2013

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.
~Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 22, 2013

One of the disciples of Rabbi Shmelke complained of "alien thoughts." The rabbi told the man to visit another disciple Rabbi Abraham Haim, who was an innkeeper. For two weeks the disciple stayed with the innkeeper and observed his customs. He watched each day as Rabbi Haim prayed and did his work and thought there was nothing special about him. But the disciple did not know what happened at night, after all the guests had gone, and early in the morning, before the guests arrived. Finally, he worked up the courage to ask the Rabbi.
The Rabbi told him that in the evening he washed all the dishes and, as in the course of the night the dust settled on them, he washed them again in the morning.
When the disciple returned to Rabbi Shmelke and told him all this, the Rabbi said, "Now you know all you need to know."
~Jewish Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 21, 2013

Is it so small a thing
To have enjoyed the sun,
To have lived light in the spring,
To have loved, to have thought,
   to have done?
~Matthew Arnold

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 20, 2013

Hui-ch'ao asked Fa-yen, "What is Buddha?"
"You are, Hui-ch'ao,"
Fa-yen replied.
~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 19, 2013

A newborn moving his arms and legs is the splendid work of buddha nature...so is the flying bird, the running hare, the scudding cloud.
~Bassui

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 18, 2013

It is not enough to tell people that it is possibly to become Buddha. What Zen does is to actually produce Buddhas...It is something that must be experienced, not explained. Scientific knowledge is gained and developed by syllogism-but Zen, because it is based solely on intuition, has no need for such a roundabout method. Zen is the actualization of the unselfish life.
~Nyogen Senzaki

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 17, 2013

The tongue like a sharp knife...kills without drawing blood.
~Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 16, 2013

Be independent and cling to nothing.
~I-Hsuan

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 15, 2013

Everything you add to the truth subtracts from the truth.
~Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 14, 2013

Without insight, meditation cannot contain the highest state of quietude. Without meditation, wisdom cannot achieve its profundity of insight.
~Hu Shih

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 13, 2013

At seventy I do not transgress the law.
~Confucius

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 12, 2013

The Buddhist does not make it the purpose of his life to rise from the dead, gain the immortality of a mythical being known as self, to lay up treasure for the future, to expect some reward in Heaven...he endeavors to actualize the glory of God in the world while he is alive - the glory which he had before the world was - and which is made manifest only by following the way of God, by practicing in thought as well as in person the doctrine of non-ego, the precept of lovingkindness.
~Soen Shaku

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 11, 2013

Monk: Why do you hate talking about Zen?
Goso: Because it turns one's stomach.
~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 10, 2013

Not mind, not Buddha...Being mind, being Buddha.
~The Two Trends of Early Zen

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 9, 2013

Concepts and judgments go together - they are unable to express the highest truth.
~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 8, 2013

Hold fast to Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the truth as a refuge.
~Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 7, 2013

Say nothing and saw wood.
~Vermont Zen

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 6, 2013

Break open the cherry tree: where are the blossoms? Just wait for spring time to see how they bloom.
~Ikkyu

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 5, 2013

If you do not enter the Way of the Buddha in this life, then in which life will you realize the Truth?
~Dogen

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 4, 2013

A man should look for what is, and not what he thinks should be.
~Albert Einstein

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 3, 2013

In the outer world of good and evil, when not a thought arises in the mind, that is called ze (sitting). Inwardly, to see one's own nature and not be moved that is called Zen (meditation).
~The Sixth Patriarch

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 2, 2013

A nameless bird
     looks cold
          oh the wintry blast

~Sampu

Daily Zen Quote - Mar. 1, 2013

Whoever has seen the Tao in the morning can die in the evening without regret.
~Chinese Saying

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 28, 2013

The wise boldly pick up a truth as soon as they hear it.
Don't wait for a moment, or you'll lose your head.
~Hsueh-Dou

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 27, 2013

The master Goso says to his disciple Yengo:
"You are ok, but have a trifling fault."
Yengo asks over and over what the fault is. Finally Goso answers: "You have altogether too much of Zen."
~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 26, 2013

I have fixed my abode where massive rocks
     lie in piles;
Birds may find their way here but it is
     completely cut off from human traces.
What do I see in my garden?
Only white clouds enveloping a solitary rock.
~Kanzan

My Tips for Meditation/How I Meditate

I know that I have already done a previous post on tips for meditation but this will not be the same. This post is my own tips for meditation and I would like to pass them onto you readers. Now I do understand that everyone is different and most of these tips might not apply to you. But I feel that the major part of these tips could apply to everyone, they just have to make them their own.
So here are my tips for meditation, take them and make them your own.

Time
The first thing to do when you begin meditation is to pick a time that you would like to meditate. Pick a time that best suits you. For me, I have found that since I am usually the only one awake until around 8 AM every morning; I have taken to meditate about 6:30 or 7:00 AM. This allows me not only to meditate alone but I can also enjoy the peaceful quiet before the rest of my household wakes up to start their day. I have also found that if I cannot do my meditation in the mornings, then at night after everyone else goes to bed is another perfect time for me. Since I am usually the last one to go to sleep every night and the first to wake up in the mornings, I can enjoy my time to myself to calm down after a long day.
I have come to switch my time to meditate around, depending on the day I've had or I'll have. If I know that I have a lot of errands and choirs that I need to do, I'll meditate in the morning in order to give myself extra energy and to wake up my mind more. If I have had a rough and stressful, I'll meditate at night in order to calm my mind down so that I can relax peacefully in my sleep.
Another important thing to do when you begin meditation is to pick how long you are going to meditate. Some people meditate for about an hour and some for about fifteen minutes. Again this has everything to do with what you feel like you need. Try meditating for ten minutes, if you feel like you need more then add on ten more minutes. Keep adding on minutes until you have reached the time that you feel is right for you. I, myself, meditate for about an hour or an hour and half. Again the time that I meditate depends on what kind of day I'll have or I've had.
A tip that I have learned is that since it is easy for me to get lost in my meditation and to lose track of time. This is why I know set a very loud alarm on my phone to go off in order for me to know that I need to come out of my meditation. I usually set my alarm to go off five minutes before the end of my meditation. But lately I have noticed that I come out of my meditation without any aid for an alarm. This is common as you teach yourself to instinctively know when your meditation is coming to an end.

Place/Environment/Surroundings
For me, the perfect place to meditate is in my room. I chose my room to meditate in because it is a room that I feel most comfortable in, mostly because it is my space. Everything in my room holds a bit of my spirit/essence. Again it does depend on the person to pick out the place where they meditate. There are endless possibilities to places
My environment, or my meditation setup is really very simple. I have a pillow that I sit on that is the perfect size to suit my meditation. I also like to light incense that I have collected in order to allow myself to relax more in my meditation. The incense that I usually use are those that I either purchase from Wal-Mart or those that I purchase from a local store as they have a better variety of scents. Also to further allow myself to relax in my mediation environment I have a playlist on my i-pod that I listen to when I am meditating. I put on my headphones and turn it down to a low calming volume and let the music take me. The reason why I put my music low is so that I am able to hear my alarm that alerts me that my mediation is about to end.

Position
Ah, the meditation position. This is different for everyone. For myself, it all depends on the kind of day that I have had/will have. For instance, if my day has been stressful and exhausting I will lay down on my bed, and just relax. If I have a busy day planned, I will take up the classic meditation position in order to wake up my mind fully. I might even do stretches in order to get my blood pumping in preparation for my day. Again it all depends on what your needs are.

How Often 
I meditate everyday, either once in the morning or once at night. I know of some people who meditate more than once a day, some that meditate only a few days out of the week and some that meditate once a month. Again it all depends on what you feel like you need. If you feel like you need to meditate a few times a day, then go right ahead. There is nothing wrong with it at all as it is what you need.

Finding Your Inner Place
Okay, now this I admit might take you some time. It took me a few tries to find this place. This is basically a place where your mind goes when you meditate in order to focus and relax. Again, this place is based off of the person. While it is common for people to have similar inner places, they all vary.
For instance, my inner place is a large library that is filled with tons and tons of all different types of books, some antique and some new. It even has old Victorian furniture and a roaring fireplace. For me, this place speaks so much of tranquility and peace and of myself. I am an avid reader so it would stand to reason that my inner place would be that of a library or study like setting. I can even smell the old books, I know that that might sound a bit farfetched but I honestly can and that makes me relax further into my meditation.

Well that is the end of this blog. I hope that I have given all of you readers some helpful tips in order for you to take full advantage of everything that your meditation can give you. If anyone has any suggestions to other blogs that they would like to see, then please leave a comment below.

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 25, 2013

A good explanation: never explained anything.
~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 24, 2013

Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 23, 2013

A monk asked, "What is the one word?"
Chao-chou said, "If you hold onto one word it will make an old man out of you."
~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 22, 2013

Voyages are accomplished inwardly, and the most hazardous ones, needless to say, are made without moving from the spot.
~Henry Miller

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 21, 2013

If you are thinking, you can't understand Zen. Anything that can be written in a book, anything that can be said - all this is thinking...but if you read with a mind that has cut off all thinking, then Zen books, sutras, and Bibles are all the truth. So is the barking of a dog or the crowing of a rooster. All things are teaching you at every moment, and these sounds are even better teaching than Zen books.
~Seung Sahn

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 20, 2013

"What is the Tao?" a monk asked.
"It is right in front of your nose!" the Master answered.
"So why can't I see it?" the monk continued.
"Your Me is in the way," the Master answered.
~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 19, 2013

The mission of Bodhidharma's journey to the east is to find a man who will not be deceived by men....Here in my place there is no truth to tell you. My duty is to lighten the heavy burden of dead weight on your back. My mission is to free men from their bondages, to cure the sick, and to beat the ghosts out of men...
~I-Hsuan

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 18, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 18, 2013

Labor to keep alive in your heart that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.
~George Washington

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 17, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 17, 2013

Unless we die to ourselves, we can never be alive again.
~D.T. Suzuki

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 16, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 16, 2013

There has been nothing since all eternity.
~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 15, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 15, 2013

To eat all day, yet not swallow a grain of rice; to walk all day, yet not tread an inch of ground; to be inseparable from things the livelong day, yet not included by them: this is to be the man who is at ease with himself.
~Hsi-yun

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 14, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 14, 2013

The heart becomes the meditation room.
~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 13, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 13, 2013

If there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.
~Albert Camus

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 12, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 12, 2013

How I would like people
     To hear...the sound of the snow falling
          Through the deepening night.
~Hakuin

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 11, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 11, 2013

To say yes you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves, and plunge both hands into life up to the elbows. It is easy to say no even if saying no means death.
~Jean Anouilh

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 10, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 10, 2013

Get rid of the words and meaning, and there is still poetry.
~Yang Wanli

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 9, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 9, 2013

Never turn your back on reality. It surrounds you.
~Stanislaw J. Lec

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 8, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 8, 2013

A disciple asked his abbot, "One of the first patriarchs has said, 'There is a word, which when understood, wipes out the sins of innumerable eons.' What is that word?"
"Right under your nose," the abbot answered.
"What does that mean?" the disciple asked.
"That is all I can tell you." replied the abbot.
~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 7, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 7, 2013

Sentient beings are intrinsically Buddha...like the relationship between water and ice.
~Hakuin

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 6, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 6, 2013

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.
~Soren Kierkegaard

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 5, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 5, 2013

To turn one's back on delusion is to attain to the ultimate; to attain to the ultimate is to attain to the origin.
~Tao-ch'ien

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 4, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 4, 2013

A monk came to the national teacher, Kwanzan, looking for instruction, but Kwanzan only abused him with foul language.
"Why?" asked the monk. "I came to you to solve he great problem of life and death."
"In my place," answered Kwanzan, "there is no life, no death."
~Zen Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 3, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 3, 2013

The best use one can make of his mind is to distrust it.
~Francois Fenelon

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 2, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 2, 2013

Paradise is at your own center unless you find it there, there is no way to enter.
~Angelus Silesius

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 1, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Feb. 1, 2013

A work of art has a maker and yet a perfect work of art is also anonymous, as if intimated by the anonymity of the art of the Divine. And so does the beauty of the world offer proof of God, who is at one personal and impersonal and neither the one nor the other.
~Simone Weil

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 31, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 31, 2013

Between truth and the search for the truth, I opt for the second.
~Bernard Berenson

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 30, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 30, 2013

When you come into the Zen room, try to keep your body and mind in shape. The Zen room is a battlefield. Be trained in zazen! That is your basic training: your boot camp. It is also the training for daily life.
~Sokei-an Sasaki

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 29, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 29, 2013

Life is painful, suffering is optional.
~Sylvia Boorstein

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 28, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 28, 2013

It was Upaka, the heretic, who met the Buddha and inquired, "Your countenance is serene, your complexion pure and bright. Who is your teacher?"
     "I have no teacher," the Buddha replied in his immensely important answer. "I am the All-Enlightened One. I shall go to Benares to set in motion the Wheel of the Law. I shall beat the drum of the Immortal in the darkness of the world."
~Buddhist Story

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 27, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 27, 2013

Whoever knows himself, knows God.
~Zen Saying

List of Zen-based eBooks

Zen-based eBooks

These are the titles of eBooks that I have found that relate to Zen and/or Meditation. All of these eBooks can be found on Amazon.com and are for any Kindle. When I found them myself, only earlier this month, and they were all free of charge. I cannot say for sure that they are free as of now as the prices change daily on Amazon.com. The list of eBooks I have are as followed -

An Easy Guide to Meditation by Roy Eugene Davis

Bushido - The Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe, A.M., Ph.D.

The Book of Tea by Okakura, Kakuzo

Zen Culture by Thomas Hoover

Instant Yoga by Infinite Ideas

The Brilliant Book of Calm by Tania Ahsan (I will be posting each of these ideas in their own post soon from this eBook)

Meditation - The Gift Inside : How to meditate to quiet your mind, find your inner peace and lasting happiness. By Howard VanEs, M.A.

The Ancient Pain Control Stress Management Relaxation Technique by Karen James

The Religion of the Samurai - A Study of Zen Philosophy and Discipline in China and Japan by Kaiten Nukariya

Screw Stress! Proven Relaxation Techniques to Help You Live Stress Free! by Katrina Abiasi

Buddhism and Buddhist - Basics for Beginners. 92 Tips On How To Practice Mindfulness, Meditation, Letting Go, And For Living In The Present Moment. By Kayla Moore

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 26, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 26, 2013

Think the non-thought.
~Dogen

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 25, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 25, 2013

He who submits his time, who submits when his work is done, will find no room for either sorrow or rejoicing.
~Chuang-Tzu

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 24, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 24, 2013

The natural order of things includes us, and its laws are our laws. We are an endless moving stream in an endless moving stream.
~Jisho Warner

Zen Tip #6 - Benefits of Zen/Meditation

Zen Tip #6 - Benefits of Zen/Meditation

These are benefits that come from the eBook, "An Easy Guide to Meditation" by Roy Eugene Davis.

While the primary purpose of meditation practice is to facilitate awakened spiritual consciousness, the side-benefits which contribute to our wellness and improved function are several:

      -Mental transformations and thinking processes become more organized as the result of meditative calmness and influence of refined states of consciousness.
     
      -The body's immune system is strengthened and physiological functions are encouraged to be more balanced and efficient.

      -Biologic aging processes are slowed. Older, long-term meditators are mentally and physically younger than their calendar years might suggest.

     -Stress symptoms are reduced. The nervous system is refreshed and enlivened, allowing awareness to be more easily processed through it.

     -Regenerative energies are awakened. These, directed by innate intelligence, vitalize the body, empower the mind, and have restorative and healing influences.

     -Intellectual skills are improved, causing delusions and illusions to be dispelled. Intuition awakens, allowing us to directly know whatever we desire to know and to experience a vivid sense of unerring inner guidance.

     -Appreciation for living is enchanced.

     -Creativity is stimulated.

     -Innate spiritual qualities awaken, enabling us to be more insightful, and functionally skillful.

     -Rapid, more satisfying, authentic spiritual growth is nurtured because body, mind, and awareness is beneficially influenced by refined superconscious states. 

I hope that this information proves to be helpful. I shall soon be posting within the next few days, a list of eBooks that I have found to be not only informative but also helpful as well in my meditation(s).

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 23, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 23, 2013

     One day a monk spoke bitterly to the Buddha. All he wanted to talk about was the unbearable sorrows of the world. The Buddha remained silent while the monk talked, then a faint smile appeared on his face.
     He pointed to the ground below his feed and said: "On this earth I have attained awakening."
~Buddhist Mondo

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 22, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 22, 2013

This is your world, it is your feast....Look at the greatness of the whole thing. Look! Don't hesitate - look! Open your eyes. Don't blink, and look, look, look further.
~Chogyam Trungpa

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 21, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 21, 2013

Perfect does not mean perfect actions in a perfect world, but appropriate actions in an imperfect one.
~R.H. Blyth

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 20, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 20, 2013

The greatest prayer is patience.
~The Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 19, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 19, 2013

When the Soul speaks, then -alas!- it is no longer the Soul that speaks.
~Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 18, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 18, 2013

As Layman P'ang was dying his friend, the Governor Yu Ti Yu, came to visit one last time. P'ang put his head on his friend's knee and spoke his last words:
"I beg you, see all phenomenon as empty. Beware of thinking as real what is non-existent. Take care of yourself in this world of shadows and echoes."
~Hsuan-Chien

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 17, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 17, 2013

Calm is the lamp and insight is the light. In all action, walking or resting, sitting or sleeping, always act with a straightforward heart: that is the samadhi of one-mindedness. And in all places and all times, always act with intelligence: that is the prajna-paramita. Sitting motionless is no dhyana; introspection of your own mind is no dhyana; and looking inward at your own calmness is no dyhana.
~Hui-Neng, the Sixth Patriarch of Zen

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 16, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 16, 2013

No one imagines that a symphony is supposed to improve as it goes along, or that the whole object of playing is to reach the finale. The point of music is discovered in every moment of playing and listening to it. It is the same, I feel, with the greater part of our lives, and if we are unduly absorbed in improving them we may forget altogether to live them.
~Alan Watts

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 15, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 15, 2013

The way is near at hand, but people always go far away looking for it.
~Random Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 14, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 14, 2013

The joy of Zen is to be found in doing the dishes, and by the same token, in doing whatever needs to be done. Delight in reality will not exclude participation in art and science or any effort to change, to shape and direct, for effort is a present part of the world as much as trees and mountains, and they are in process too.
~Van Meter Ames

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 13, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 13, 2013

The moon of mind comprehends all the universe in its light.
~Ban-zan

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 12, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 12, 2013

Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know.
~Lao-Tsu

Zen Tip #5 - Next Steps

Zen Tip #5 - Next Steps

Every day we are learning more about the benefits of meditation: physical and mental well-being, compassion, patience, calm, a more flexible mind, strengthened immune system, sharper memory - it's extraordinary!

Whether it's Zen you're after, or just a peaceful moment in the day, meditation will shape your life as you make a habit out of it.

Just remember; It's still just your life.

And that's wonderful.

"Zen," the last master Shunryu Suzuki said, "is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine."

Or to paraphrase another writer, "first ecstasy, then the laundry."

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 11, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 11, 2013

I go among trees and sit still. All my stirring becomes quiet around me like circles on water.
~Wendell Berry

Zen Tip #4 - Posture: The Mind

Zen Tip #4 - Posture: The Mind

The Chinese have often called the mind a wild horse. The reasoning behind this is that thoughts don't slow down, no matter how hard we try to impede them.

Instead we should acknowledge each one, then let it drift away.

Often, the first technique of zazen, which is seated meditation, is counting your breath.

In order to do this, you begin counting each inhalation and exhalation. When you reach ten, start over. Your breathing should be deep, slow, easy and regular.

Of course, the mind is going to rebel and you will lose count. When you do, just start return to one and start again.

Counting your breath can be a complete lifetime's practice; but even if you move on to koans or other forms of meditation, it will always remain an invaluable tool.

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 10, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 10, 2013

In this very breath that we take now lies the secret that all great teachers try to tell us.
~Peter Matthiessen

Zen Tip #3 - Posture: The Body

Zen Tip #3 - Posture: The Body

Like a New Year's resolution, the expression "belly forward, buttocks back" is an encouraging mantra - and a useful reminder - of how to approach life.

On the zafu, it literally means let the belly hang, which helps pitch the spine into its natural curve.

Keep you chest out, head up and chin slightly tucked in.

Your ears should be in line with your shoulders, your shoulders should be in line with your hips.

Leave your eyes open, staring but not focusing at a spot on the floor just a few feet ahead.

Form your hands into a mudra, this is done by resting your right palm face up on your lap and your left palm face up inside.

Your thumbs should be create an oval, their tips barely touching.

The final step is to rock from side to side, starting with wide arcs and slowly settling in until you're as unmovable as a mountain.

I am also going to include a picture of mudra, or the position your hands should be in. Again I hope you found this Zen Tip very helpful and I shall see you all again tomorrow.

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 9, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 9, 2013

Learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this life.
~Sogyal Rinpoche

Zen Tip #2 - Posture: The Legs

Zen Tip #2 - Posture: The Legs

Stability is the key to proper posture, and the key to stability is in the legs.

Traditionally, this means sitting in the full-lotus position, in which the legs are crossed with both feet resting atop opposite thighs.

However, many of us are not disposed to this position.

The half-lotus, which is having only one foot in the lap is a bit easier.

If that doesn't work, try the Burmese position. This position is done by placing one leg in front of the other with both ankles on the mat, or the seiza. This essentially is a combination of kneeling and sitting and can often be helped with a special stool.

It's not the exact position that matters, but the ability to sit without fatigue.

It's find to sit in a chair if that's what's most comfortable for you. Some even lay down and allow themselves to fully relax, it's all about what position is most comfortable for you to meditate.

I am including a picture of the positions that I have named in this post, I hope it is very helpful to you all.

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 8, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 8, 2013

Contemplation is the loving sense of this life, this presence and this eternity.
~Thomas Merton

Zen Tip #1 - Explore the nature of Zen

Zen Tip #1 - Explore the nature of Zen

Explore the nature of Zen "where you are."

Find a quiet, tranquil corner in your home that is far from the hustle and bustle of the day and make it your "zendo." A zendo is your meditation place.

Wear loose-fitting clothing. There is no need for special exercise pants or the latest techno-fabric shirt. The only equipment you may want is a zafu, which is a thick round cushion stuffed with kapok, or buckwheat shells. However, when first starting meditation any sort of thick pillow will do.

Another item that may also be proven useful is a zabuton. A zabuton is a square pad that cushions the knees. But if you don't have a zabuton, then a blanket or two that are folded in a square works equally as well.

Be sure that you free yourself from distraction. You can do this by considering using a timer or a timer app, in order to keep track of your meditation period.

I hope that this Zen Tip helps anyone who happens to come across it. I shall be posting more as soon as I can and I hope that everyone is enjoying the Daily Zen Quotes. Again I welcome anyone who has a request on what else they would like to see on this blog to please feel free and leave a comment below. I would love to hear more ideas. Well until tomorrow. 

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 7, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 7, 2013

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
~Dogen

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 6, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 6, 2013

By the practice of Zen this becomes a world of mutual respect.
~Sogen Asahina

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 5, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 5, 2013

If you ask me a question I don't know, I'm not going to answer.
~Yogi Berra

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 4, 2013

Daily Zen Quote - Jan. 4, 2013

To one who has had the experience there is no need to explain it. To one who was not, there is no way to explain it. What to do but to exclaim it!
~Reikichi Kita & Kiichi Nagaya

Daily Zen Quote, Jan. 3, 2013

Daily Zen Quote, Jan. 3, 2013

See into life. Don't just look at it.
~Anne Baxter

Daily Zen Quote, Jan. 2, 2013

Daily Zen Quote, Jan. 2, 2013

All sentient beings in this world have perfect wisdom and complete virtue, they simply do not know about it.
~The Buddha

Daily Zen Quote, Jan. 1, 2013

Daily Zen Quote, Jan. 1, 2013

There is no beginning. There is no beginning of that beginning...There is something. There is nothing.
~Chuang-Tzu

Welcome to Zenscape!

Welcome to Zenscape!

 

Hello and welcome to Zenscape. I decided to start this blog in order to share my love and interest in Zen and the art of meditation. This blog will consist of daily Zen quotes, which I will post daily. I will also post excerpts from Zen novels that I have read, or I am currently reading as well as advice for meditation. I hope that everyone who reads this blog will enjoy it. Please feel free to comment your response to any post or if any of you have request on what you would like to see on this blog then also feel free to comment as well. I love getting feedback from my readers. Well I shall be posting three more blog posts tonight, as I actually planned on starting this blog on Jan. 1, but I am a little behind schedule. Not much, so it'll be easy for me to each up. Also I know that some of the quotes will be short and I apologize but that is how I wish to have my blog set up when it comes to posting the Zen quotes.
But after these few post, I will be posting daily quotes as I stated up above, along with random advice blogs, excerpts from Zen novels, requests, and even a random pictures. Thank you all once again for reading this blog and I hope you all enjoy it.