Daily Zen Quote - November 30, 2015

“All you do is think. Because all you do is think, you've constructed two separate worlds—one inside your head and one outside. Just the fact that you tolerate this enormous dissonance—why, that's a great intangible failure already.”
~ Natsume Sōseki from And Then

Daily Zen Quote - November 29, 2015

“There is nowhere to arrive except the present moment.”
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh from How to Sit

Daily Zen Quote - November 28, 2015

“Every hour of your life that ticks by, there are numerous points and moments when you can choose to pause - and be aware of your mental and physical state. At any given point, you can freeze the flow that is your life, and be fully conscious for a moment.”
~ Kevin Michel from Moving Through Parallel Worlds To Achieve Your Dreams

Daily Zen Quote - November 27, 2015

“The mind's best trick is the illusion that it exists.”
~ Marty Rubin

Daily Zen Quote - November 26, 2015

“You are not your thoughts!! This simple yet powerful statement can greatly change the quality of your life.”
~ Dawn Gluskin

Daily Zen Quote - November 25, 2015

“You can be happy if you are willing to let go of your past and leave yourself unencumbered so you can fly freely.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - November 24, 2015

“Who you allow into the circle of your life will make the difference in the quality of your life.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - November 23, 2015

“Anywhere we go, we will have our self with us; we cannot escape ourselves.”
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh

Daily Zen Quote - November 22, 2015

“If the eye never sleeps,
all dreams will naturally cease.
If the mind makes no discriminations,
the ten thousand things are as they are,
of single essence.
To understand the mystery of this One essence
is to be released from all entanglements.
When all things are seen equally
the timeless Self-essence is reached.
No comparisons or analogies are possible in this causeless, relationless state.

Consider movement stationary
and the stationary in motion,
both movement and rest disappear.
When such dualities cease to exist
Oneness itself cannot exist.
To this ultimate finality
no law or description applies.”
~ Seng-Ts0an

Daily Zen Quote - November 21, 2015

“It is not enough to believe in yourself alone; there will come a day when you will fail yourself. That is why we must also believe in a supportive power beyond our control - a safety net, a super intelligence - or there is no hope for the moment when all our strength is gone.”
~ Vernon Kitabu Turner from Soul Sword, 2nd Edition: The Way and Mind of a Zen Warrior

Daily Zen Quote - November 20, 2015

“Sharpen your sword daily , and let it serve your true master: YOU. You and the Master are one”
~ Vernon Kitabu Turner

Daily Zen Quote - November 19, 2015

“To speak conventionally - and I think it is easier for the general reader to see Zen thus presented - there are unknown recesses in our minds which lie beyond the threshold of the relatively constructed consciousness. To designate them as “sub-consciousness” or “supra-consciousness” is not correct. The word “beyond” is used simply because it is a most convenient term to indicate their whereabouts. But as a matter of fact there is no “beyond”, no “underneath”, no “upon” in our consciousness. The mind is one indivisible whole and cannot be torn in pieces. The so-called terra incognita is the concession of Zen to our ordinary way of talking, because whatever field of consciousness that is known to us is generally filled with conceptual riffraff, and to get rid of them, which is absolutely necessary for maturing Zen experience, the Zen psychologist sometimes points to the presence of some inaccessible region in our minds. Though in actuality there is no such region apart from our everyday consciousness, we talk of it as generally more easily comprehensible by us.”
~ D.T. Suzuki from An Introduction to Zen Buddhism

Daily Zen Quote - November 18, 2015

“We grow up to believe that we are supposed to somehow "become" who we are meant to be through the trial-by-fire that is life here on planet Earth.

Reality is...there's no "becoming".

It's actually all an "un-becoming", only to reunite with who you were born to be in the first place before society told you otherwise.”
~ Jennifer Sodini

Daily Zen Quote - November 17, 2015

“*Breathing in, I know this is my in-breath.
Breathing out, I know this is my out-breath.*

It's very simple, but very effective. When we bring our attention to our in-breath and our out-breath, we stop thinking of the past; we stop thinking of the future; and we begin to come home to ourselves...Don't think this practice doesn't apply to you. If we don't go home to ourselves, we can't be at our best and serve the world in the best way... Our quality of being is the foundation for the quality of our actions.

*Breathing in, I'm aware of my whole body.
Breathing out, I'm aware of my whole body.*

Breathing mindfully brings us back to our bodies. We have to acknowledge our bodies first because tension and suffering accumulate in the body. Breathing in this way, we create a kind of family reunion between mind and body. The mind becomes an embodied mind.

...We can't do our best if we don't know to release the tension and pain in ourselves.

*Breathing in, I'm aware of the tension in my body.
Breathing out, I'm aware of the tension in my body.*

When we look at the suffering around us, at poverty, violence, or climate change, we may want to solve these things immediately. We want to do something. But to do something effectively and ethically, we need to be our best selves in order to be able to handle the suffering...

*Breathing in, I am aware of a painful feeling arising.
Breathing out, I release the painful feeling.*

This is a nonviolent and gentle way to help our bodies release tension and pain. It is possible to practice mindful breathing in order to produce a feeling of joy, a feeling of happiness. When we are well-nourished and know how to create joy, then we are strong enough to handle the deep pain within ourselves and the world.”
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh from Good Citizens: Creating Enlightened Society

Daily Zen Quote - November 16, 2015

“If you have mindfulness, if you feel safe, you recognize that you have plenty of conditions to be happy already, and that you don't need to run into the future in order to get a few more conditions.”
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh from Good Citizens: Creating Enlightened Society

Daily Zen Quote - November 15, 2015

“You know you have arrived when you have stopped caring about the destination”
~ Srividya Srinivasan

Daily Zen Quote - November 14, 2015

“If the eye never sleeps,
all dreams will naturally cease.
If the mind makes no discriminations,
the ten thousand things are as they are,
of single essence.
To understand the mystery of this One essence
is to be released from all entanglements.
When all things are seen equally
the timeless Self-essence is reached.
No comparisons or analogies are possible
in this causeless, relation-less state.

Consider movement stationary
and the stationary in motion,
both movement and rest disappear.
When such dualities cease to exist
Oneness itself cannot exist.
To this ultimate finality
no law or description applies.”
~ Sengcan

Daily Zen Quote - November 13, 2015

“Every hour of your life that ticks by, there are numerous points and moments when you can choose to pause - and be aware of your mental and physical state. At any given point, you can freeze the flow that is your life, and be fully conscious for a moment.”
~ Kevin Michel from Moving Through Parallel Worlds To Achieve Your Dreams

Daily Zen Quote - November 12, 2015

“Before we were born we had no feeling; we were one with the universe. This is called "mind-only," or "essence of mind," or "big mind," After we are separated by birth from this oneness, as the water falling from the waterfall is separated by the wind and rocks, then we have feeling. You have difficulty because you have feeling. You attach to the feeling you have without knowing just how this kind of feeling is created. When you do not realize that you are one with the river, or one with the universe, you have fear. Whether it is separated into drops or not, water is water. Our life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact we have no fear of death anymore, and we have no actual difficulty in our life.”
~ Shunryu Suzuki

Daily Zen Quote - November 11, 2015

“Life is eternal game, there are no rules. Indulge yourself.”
~ Osh Marty

Daily Zen Quote - November 10, 2015

“One master defines Zen as the art of feeling the polar star in the southern sky. Truth can be reached only through the comprehension of opposites.”
~ Okakura Kakuzō from The Book of Tea

Daily Zen Quote - November 9, 2015

“In Zen, there is an old saying: The obstacle is the path. Know that a whole and happy life is not free of obstacles. Quite the contrary, a whole and happy life is riddled with obstacles-they simply become the very stepping-stones that help lift us to a new perspective. It is not what happens to us in this life that shapes us, it is how we choose to respond to what happens to us.”
~ Dennis Merritt Jones from The Art of Being: 101 Ways to Practice Purpose in Your Life

Daily Zen Quote - November 8, 2015

“There’s surprising relief and regeneration in finding ourselves within a moment of genuine grace, however small or temporary it may be.”
~ Darrell Calkins

Daily Zen Quote - November 7, 2015

“The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand ; I take a book from the other side of the desk ; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring wood: — in all these I am practicing Zen, I am living Zen. No wordy discussions is necessary, nor any explanation. I do not know why — and there is no need of explaining, but when the sun rises the whole world dances with joy and everybody’s heart is filled with bliss. If Zen is at all conceivable, it must be taken hold of here.”
~ D.T. Suzuki from An Introduction to Zen Buddhism

Daily Zen Quote - November 6, 2015

“To think, or not to think...This is the true question.”
~ Bert McCoy

Daily Zen Quote - November 5, 2015

“Stay in the center, and you will be ready to move in any direction.”
~ Alan W. Watts

Daily Zen Quote - November 4, 2015

“There is nowhere to arrive except the present moment.”
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh from How to Sit

Daily Zen Quote - November 3, 2015

“Before we were born we had no feeling; we were one with the universe. This is called "mind-only," or "essence of mind," or "big mind," After we are separated by birth from this oneness, as the water falling from the waterfall is separated by the wind and rocks, then we have feeling. You have difficulty because you have feeling. You attach to the feeling you have without knowing just how this kind of feeling is created. When you do not realize that you are one with the river, or one with the universe, you have fear. Whether it is separated into drops or not, water is water. Our life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact we have no fear of death anymore, and we have no actual difficulty in our life.”
~ Shunryu Suzuki

Daily Zen Quote - November 2, 2015

“Be aware of yourself without thinking or looking in the mirror”
~ Bert McCoy

Daily Zen Quote - November 1, 2015

“Anywhere we go, we will have our self with us; we cannot escape ourselves.”
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh