Daily Zen Quote - August 31, 2015

“Zen is a liberation from time. For if we open our eyes and see clearly, it becomes obvious that there is no other time than this instant, and that the past and the future are abstractions without any concrete reality.”
~ Alan W. Watts

Daily Zen Quote - August 30, 2015

“When you blame, you open up a world of excuses, because as long as you're looking outside, you miss the opportunity to look inside, and you continue to suffer.”
~ Donna Quesada, Buddha in the Classroom: Zen Wisdom to Inspire Teachers

Daily Zen Quote - August 29, 2015

“Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself.
Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;
a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.
Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?
Listening to the night rain on my roof,
I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.”
~ Ryokan

Daily Zen Quote - August 28, 2015

“When you catch yourself slipping into a pool of negativity, notice how it derives from nothing other than resistance to the current situation.”
~ Donna Quesada, Buddha in the Classroom: Zen Wisdom to Inspire Teachers

Daily Zen Quote - August 27, 2015

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few”
~ Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice

Daily Zen Quote - August 26, 2015

“The point of the spiritual life is to realize Truth. But you will never understand the spiritual life, or realize Truth, if you measure it by your own yardstick.”
~ Dainin Katagiri

Daily Zen Quote - August 25, 2015

“When mind exists undisturbed in the Way, nothing in the world can offend, and when a thing can no longer offend it ceases to exist in the old way. When no discriminating thoughts arise, the old mind ceases to exist.”
~ Sengcan, Hsin Hsin Ming

Daily Zen Quote - August 24, 2015

“Here's an example: someone says, "Master, please hand me the knife," and he hands them the knife, blade first. "Please give me the other end," he says. And the master replies, "What would you do with the other end?" This is answering an everyday matter in terms of the metaphysical.

When the question is, "Master, what is the fundamental principle of Buddhism?" Then he replies, "There is enough breeze in this fan to keep me cool." That is answering the metaphysical in terms of the everyday, and that is, more or less, the principle zen works on. The mundane and the sacred are one and the same.”
~ Alan W. Watts, What Is Zen?

Daily Zen Quote - August 23, 2015

“Who we are now is all that really matters.”
~ Amy Joy, The Academie

Daily Zen Quote - August 22, 2015

“Consider your own place in the universal oneness of which we are all a part, from which we all arise, and to which we all return.”
~ David Fontana

Daily Zen Quote - August 21, 2015

“In pale moonlight / the wisteria's scent / comes from far away.”
~ Yosa Buson

Daily Zen Quote - August 20, 2015

“Preoccupied with a single leaf you won't see the tree.”
~ Vagabond

Daily Zen Quote - August 19, 2015

“When composing a verse let there not be a hair's breath separating your mind from what you write; composition of a poem must be done in an instant, like a woodcutter felling a huge tree or a swordsman leaping at a dangerous enemy.”
 ~ Matsuo Bashō

Daily Zen Quote - August 18, 2015

“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.”
~ Masanobu Fukuoka from The One-Straw Revolution

Daily Zen Quote - August 17, 2015

“A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored, "Why is there so much suffering?"
Suzuki Roshi replied, "No reason.”
~ Shunryu Suzuki from Zen is Right Here: Teaching Stories and Anecdotes of Shunryu Suzuki, Author of "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"

Daily Zen Quote - August 16, 2015

“Like vanishing dew,
a passing apparition
or the sudden flash
of lightning -- already gone --
thus should one regard one's self.”

~ Ikkyu

Daily Zen Quote - August 15, 2015

“Where there are humans,
You'll find flies,
And Buddhas.”
~ Kobayashi Issa

Daily Zen Quote - August 14, 2015

“If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?”
~ Dōgen

Daily Zen Quote - August 13, 2015

“Haiku is not a shriek, a howl, a sigh, or a yawn; rather, it is the deep breath of life.”
  ~ Santoka Taneda from Mountain Tasting: Haiku and Journals of Santoka Taneda

Daily Zen Quote - August 12, 2015

“Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.”
~ Bodhidharma from The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

Daily Zen Quote - August 11, 2015

“Only the hand that erases can write the true thing.”
~ Meister Eckhart 

Daily Zen Quote - August 10, 2015

“The way out is through the door. Why is it that no one will use this method?”
~ Confucius 

Apology

Apologies for not posting over the last couple of days, personal issues. But now I am back and ready for daily updates again!

Daily Zen Quote - August 8, 2015

Taking steps in mindfulness
is an act of liberation.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Daily Zen Quote - August 7, 2015

There is no distinction
between means and ends.
There is no way to happiness;
happiness is the way.
There is no way to enlightment;
enlightenment is the way.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Daily Zen Quote - August 6, 2015

We're not just trying to run away from suffering.
We want to transform our own suffering and be
free in order to help other people
transform their suffering.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Daily Zen Quote - August 5, 2015

Our practice is based on the insight
of nonduality - anger is not an enemy.
Both mindfulness and anger
are ourselves. The energy of anger is
recognized and embraced tenderly
by the energy of mindfulness.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Daily Zen Quote - August 4, 2015

Every time we make a mindful step,
we are engaged in an act of enlightenment.
We can be enlightened about the fact
that we are making a step.
Each step can have beauty in it.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Daily Zen Quote - August 3, 2015

Breathing in, I see myself as a flower.
Breathing out, I feel fresh.
Breathing in, I see myself
as a moutain.
Breathing out, I feel solid.
Breathing in, I see myself as space.
Breathing out, I feel free.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Daily Zen Quote - August 2, 2015

Within the seed of mindfulness is the seed
of concentration. With these two energies,
we can liberate ourselves from afflications.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Daily Zen Quote - August 1, 2015

When we look deeply
at a flower, we can see
the whole cosmos
is contained in it.

~Thich Nhat Hanh