Daily Zen Quote - December 31, 2015

“Life is full of highs and lows. We need them both to grow to our fullest potential. Just hang on tight & enjoy the ride.”
~ Dawn Gluskin

Daily Zen Quote - December 30, 2015

“I sit in meditation…and soon all sounds, and all one sees and feels, take on imminence, an immanence, as if the Universe were coming to attention, a Universe of which one is the center, a Universe that is not the same yet not different from oneself: within man as within mountains there are many parts of hydrogen and oxygen, of calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and other elements. ‘You never enjoy the world aright, till the Sea itself flows in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars…’(Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditation)

The secret of the mountains is that the mountains simply exist, as I do myself: the mountains exist simply, which I do not. The mountains have no ‘meaning,’ they are meaning; the mountains are. The sun is round. I ring with life, and the mountains ring, and when I can hear it, there is a ringing that we share.”
~ Peter Matthiessen from The Snow Leopard

Daily Zen Quote - December 29, 2015

“Your actions create an "energy vortex" that draws in the necessary ingredients for your venture.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - December 28, 2015

“Again, all of life presents us with two basic ways to treat events. We can either label them "god for us" or "bad for us." The event is only an event. It's how we treat the event that determines what it becomes in our lives. The event doesn't make that determination- we do.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - December 27, 2015

“Every belief that you hold manifests itself in some manner by either causing you to take some form of action or by preventing you from taking action. If you don't believe something is possible, you won't even attempt it.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - December 26, 2015

“If you feel depressed for an hour, you've produced approximately eighteen billion new cells that have more receptors calling out for depressed-type peptides and fewer calling out for feel-good peptides.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - December 25, 2015

“The true source of happiness is within each of us.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

 

Daily Zen Quote - December 24, 2015

“What determines each person's state of happiness or unhappiness is not the event itself, but what the event means to that person.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - December 23, 2015

“The more you engage in any type of emotion or behavior, the greater your desire for it will become.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - December 22, 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 - December 21, 2015

“If the feet of enlightenment moved, the great ocean would overflow; If that head bowed, it would look down upon the heavens.
Such a body has no place to rest. . . .
Let another continue this poem.”
~ Paul Reps from Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings

Daily Zen Quote - December 20, 2015

“If you are surrounded by people who not only don't believe in your goals and your positive outlook on life, but who also continually try to tear you down, it will be extremely challenging for you to hold firmly in mind that you will succeed and that you can be happy.”
― Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - December 19, 2015

“The best way for you to get that new experience is to change your response to what happens.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - December 18, 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.”
~ Seng-Ts0an

Daily Zen Quote - December 17, 2015

“In a Zen retreat we have a format for working with these quicksilver changes: we sit with them, we pay attention to them... Being steady with mindfulness as an anchor for all the changes we go through is the way we practice forbearance. And you can employ this same method anywhere anytime: just pay close attention to the details of what is going on internally and externally. Don't flinch, don't run away. Trust what happens. Take your stand there." (71)”
~ Norman Fischer from Sailing Home: Using Homer's Odyssey to Navigate Life's Perils and Pitfalls

Daily Zen Quote - December 16, 2015

“Mindfulness is attainable when one can embrace life, not its circumstances.”
~ Michelle Cruz-Rosado

Daily Zen Quote - December 15, 2015

“To practice with an end in view is to have one eye on the practice and the other on the end, which is lack of concentration, lack of sincerity.”
~ Alan W. Watts

Daily Zen Quote - December 14, 2015

“Life is full of highs and lows. We need them both to grow to our fullest potential. Just hang on tight & enjoy the ride.”
~ Dawn Gluskin

Daily Zen Quote - December 13, 2015

“During this journey it was as if he again thought over his whole life and reached the same old comforting and hopeless conclusion: that there was no need for him to start anything, that he had to live out his life without doing evil, without anxiety, and without wishing for anything.”
~ Leo Tolstoy from War and Peace

Daily Zen Quote - December 12, 2015

“Travel is such a wonderful experience! Especially when you forget you are traveling. Then you will enjoy whatever you see and do. Those who look into themselves when they travel will not think about what they see. In fact, there is no distinction between the viewer and the seen. You experience everything with the totality of yourself, so that every blade of grass, every mountain, every lake is alive and is a part of you. When there is no division between you and what is other, this is the ultimate experience of traveling.”
~ Liezi from Lieh-tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living

Daily Zen Quote - December 11, 2015

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

Daily Zen Quote - December 10, 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 - December 9, 2015

“Does one really have to fret
About enlightenment?
No matter what road I travel,
I’m going home.”
~ Shinsho

Daily Zen Quote - December 8, 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 - December 7, 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 - December 6, 2015

“As a soul, you have the freedom – and earned responsibility – to transpose your personal process of evolution, to manifest your greatest talents and vision, into the work that matters to you most as a means to personal redemption.”
~ Darrell Calkins

Daily Zen Quote - December 5, 2015

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

Daily Zen Quote - December 4, 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 - December 3, 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 - December 2, 2015

“Letting go takes a lot of courage sometimes. But once you let go, happiness comes very quickly. You won't have to go around search for it.”
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh

Daily Zen Quote - December 1, 2015

“Two monks were once traveling together down a wet and muddy road. The rain was torrential, making it almost impossible to walk along the path. As the two men were trudging along, a beautiful girl dressed in silk appeared. She was unable to cross the path and looked distressed.

“Let me help you”, said the older monk. He picked her up and carried her over the mud. His younger male companion did not utter a word that night until they reached their lodging temple. Then after hours of restrained conversation, the younger monk exclaimed: “We monks do not touch females; it is too tempting for us and can create a bad outcome”. The older monk looked into the younger monks eyes and said, “I left the girl on the road. Are you still carrying her?”

This ancient Zen story illustrates beautifully how so many of us are trapped in the habit of constantly “re-living” the past in our minds, thus dishonoring the present moment. The young monk wasted hours distressing himself with judgment, speculation, anxiety, resentment and ultimately self-perpetuated unhappiness as a direct result of not being mindful.”
~ Christopher Dines from Mindfulness Meditation: Bringing Mindfulness into Everyday Life