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