Final Thoughts on 2016

Hello all!
I decided that I was going to do one last blog post for 2016 and I finally decided that I was going to give my final thoughts on 2016 in general. This is going to include my own personal experiences of 2016 and what I think of 2016 in general. I also am going to include some goals that I want to achieve in 2017.

My personal experiences of 2016 have 3 major events that occurred. Two of them where amazing beyond belief and one almost spiraled me into a depression so let's start with the two happy events first.

First I finally opened up an Etsy shop where I began selling planner supplies. It's still a small Etsy shop but I have got big plans for it in 2017 so I'm really excited to see how much I can make it grow.

And even more amazing event that happened was that I became an aunt! My sister gave birth to a happy bouncing baby boy at the end of June and I am so in love with my little nephew! He's so cute and already has the entire family wrapped around his fingers.

The event that almost spiraled me into a depression took a toll on not only myself but my entire family. My father passed away on Nov. 14 and it hit us all very hard. He had been in ICU for almost an entire month due to liver failure from years of drinking alcohol to excess. For the last 2 months before he was administered into the hospital, he lived with me and I became his main caregiver along with my grandfather and uncle who has down-syndrome. It was hard, I'm not going to lie but it was worth it. Over the years, we've grown apart because he was a man of harsh actions and even harsher words. But in the end, we did make up and bury the hatchet. I was able to tell him that even though I will never forget anything he has said over the years but that I could forgive him. And in fact, I forgave him the moment he said those hurtful things and even forgave him for things he never said out loud; but spoke with this eyes.

Okay that's enough of that because emotions are still raw on that one.

Sadly this year has been horrible when it comes to not only deaths of close family but also of celebrities. I cannot believe that some of my favorite actors, musicians and authors are no long with us. And we seem to be losing more and more every day and I just want 2016 to be over with.

I am so excited for 2017 to come and I can't wait to see what I accomplish in the coming months. I have several goals that I want to achieve and if I'm honest some of the goals aren't just a want but a need. I'll list them below but keep in mind I change my mind like the wind changes direction. But I do want to keep these this year.

My Goals for 2017
1. Lose weight!
2. Expand my Etsy Shop
3. Finish writing at least one book, if not more.
4. Budget better
5. Grow my blogs
6. Spend more time with friends
7. Do things that I say I'm going to do and don't go back on my word.

And that really is all that I have in mind for goals next year. I'm pretty sure that I will add more to my list and that it will grow as the year progresses. But I really do want to achieve all of my goals this year. I just hope that I can cross off a few of these by the end of next year.

Thank you for reading my blog(s). I will list my other blogs below so feel free to check them out!

Until next time!
Here is a list of my other blogs! Check them out!
Reviews & First Impressions Blog
http://reviews-and-impressions.blogspot.com/

My Experience as a Caregiver
http://my-experience-as-a-caregiver.blogspot.com/

A Southern Girl's Weight-Loss Journey
http://southern-girl-weight-loss-journey.blogspot.com/

Daily Zen Quote - December 31, 2016

You will not be punished for your anger,
you will be punished by your anger.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - December 30, 2016

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - December 29, 2016

One is meant to forgive and be compassionate.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - December 28, 2016

May all beings be well and happy.
~ Sabbe Satta Bhavantu Sukhitata

Daily Zen Quote - December 27, 2016

The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into a habit;
The habit hardens into character;
So watch the thoughts and it's ways with care;
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all human beings...
As the shadows follows the body,
As we think, so we become.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - December 26, 2016

Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. It solely replies on what you think.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - December 25, 2016

A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.
~ Elbert Hubbard

Daily Zen Quote - December 24, 2016

Sometimes we need someone to simply be there. Not to fix anything, or to do anything in particular, but just to let us feel that we are card for and supported.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - December 23, 2016

Every girl needs a best friend to help her laugh when she thinks she'll never smile again.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - December 22, 2016

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - December 21, 2016

The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - December 20, 2016

When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head and laugh at the sky.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - December 19, 2016

The stream of life will not be stayed in its course for man's convenience, and water dammed and stilled in its flow becomes increasingly impure.
~ Christmas Humphreys from Studies in the Middle Way

Daily Zen Quote - December 18, 2016

Better than a thousand hollow words, is the one that brings peace.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - December 17, 2016

Serenity comes when you trade expectations for acceptance.
~ Zen Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - December 16, 2016

Adopt the pace of nature;
her secret is patience.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Daily Zen Quote - December 15, 2016

Let us rise up and be thankful,
for if we didn't learn a lot today,
at least we learned a little.
And if we didn't learn a little,
at least we didn't get sick.
And if we got sick, at least we didn't die;
So, let us all be thankful
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - December 14, 2016

Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in mind.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - December 13, 2016

There is no error greater than hatred. And nothing mightier than patience.
So I strive in every way to learn,
PATIENCE
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - December 12, 2016

Simplicity, Patience, Compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in action and thoughts, you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.
~ Lazo Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Daily Zen Quote - December 11, 2016

The secret to having it all...
is knowing you already do.
~ Zen Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - December 10, 2016

No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - December 9, 2016

Before you talk, listen.
Before you react, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.
~ Ernest Hemingway

Daily Zen Quote - December 8, 2016

Nature does not hurry. Yet everything is accomplished.
~ Lao Tsu

Daily Zen Quote - December 7, 2016

Zen is a journey toward enlightenment; a journey of spirit.
Living Zen is the understanding that I can experience emotion, feeling, or adversity - without letting it consume me.
~ Zen Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - December 6, 2016

When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life.
~ John Lennon

Daily Zen Quote - December 5, 2016

The Paradox of Our Age
We have bigger houses, but smaller families;
More conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
More knowledge, but less judgement;
More experts, but more problems;
More medicines, but less healthiness;
We've been all the way to the moon and back.
But have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We built more computers to hold more information, to product more copies then ever, but have less communication.
We have become long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are times of fast food but slow digestion;
Tall man but short character;
Steep profits but shall relationships.
It is a time when there is much in the window, but nothing in the room.
~ Dalai Lama

Daily Zen Quote - December 4, 2016

Quiet the mind and the soul will speak.
~ Ma Jaya Sati

Daily Zen Quote - December 3, 2016

If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.
~ Mother Teresa

Daily Zen Quote - December 2, 2016

10 to Zen
1. Let go of comparing.
2. Let go of competing.
3. Let go of judgments.
4. Let go of anger.
5. Let go of regrets.
6. Let go of worrying.
7. Let go of blame.
8. Let go of guilt.
9. Let go of fear.
10. Have a proper belly laugh at least once a day (especially if it's about your inability to let go of any or all of the above)
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - December 1, 2016

Be glad for this moment...
for this moment is your life.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - November 30, 2016

Life is short.
Break the rules
Forgive quickly
Kiss slowly,
Love truly,
Laugh uncontrollably
and never regret anything that made you smile.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - November 29, 2016

Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled.
~ Ray Bradbury

Daily Zen Quote - November 28, 2016

Let your wings of forgiveness flutter and take you into a garden where the flowers of peace blossom.
~ Dodinsky

Daily Zen Quote - November 27, 2016

You yourself must strive.
The Buddhas only point the way.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - November 26, 2016

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins - not through strength, but through persistence.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - November 25, 2016

To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - November 24, 2016

Sometimes, letting go takes more strength than holding on.
~ Unkown

Daily Zen Quote - November 23, 2016

Suffering begins to dissolve when we can question the belief or the hope that there's anywhere to hide.
~ Pema Chodron

Daily Zen Quote - November 22, 2016

Generally speaking, the Way of the Warrior is resolute acceptance of death.
~ Miyamoto Musashi

Daily Zen Quote - November 21, 2016

Neither fire nor wind,
birth nor death can erase our good deeds.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - November 20, 2016

Sorrow comes in great waves...
And though it may almost smother us...
We know that if it is strong, we are stronger,
in as much as it passes and we remain
~ Henry James

Daily Zen Quote - November 19, 2016

You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.
~ Epicurus

Daily Zen Quote - November 18, 2016

A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose - a cause to pursue, a person to love, a goal to achieve.
~ John Maxwell

Daily Zen Quote - November 17, 2016

I've seen better days,
but I've also seen worse.
I don't have everything that I want,
but I do have all I need.
I woke up with some aches and pains,
but I woke up.
My life may not be perfect
but I am blessed.
~ Lessons Learned In Life

Daily Zen Quote - November 16, 2016

No matter how much it hurts now.
One day you will look back and realize
it changed your life for the better.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - November 15, 2016

You would never know if a drop fell in the water,
If you didn't see the ripples.
~ James John

Daily Zen Quote - November 14, 2016

Sometimes it looks like everything
Is falling apart and all you do fails,
But you have to stay strong.
Night is always darkest before the dawn.
And
Life is just the same -
The hard times will pass,
Everything will get better and
The sun will shine brighter than ever.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - November 13, 2016

You never know what's around the corner.
It could be everything.
Or it could be nothing.
You keep putting one foot in front of the other,
and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - November 12, 2016

When you reach the top, keep climbing.
~ Zen Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - November 11, 2016

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.
They're in each other all along.
~ Rumi

Daily Zen Quote - November 10, 2016

My true self if free.
It cannot be contained.
~ Marcus Aurelius

Daily Zen Quote - November 9, 2016

Set your heart on doing good.
Do it over and over again and you will be filled with joy.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - November 8, 2016

Since everything is a reflection of our minds...
Everything can be changed by our minds.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - November 7, 2016

I am life.
I have no name,
I am as the fresh breeze of the mountains.
~ Ziddn Krishamurti

Daily Zen Quote - November 6, 2016

To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.
~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Daily Zen Quote - November 5, 2016

Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come. Remember everything you have faced, all the battles you have won and all the fears you have overcome.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - November 4, 2016

Hope is the thing with feathers. That perches in the soul, and sings the tune - Without the words and never stops at all.
~ Emily Dickinson

Daily Zen Quote - November 3, 2016

The quieter you become the more you can hear.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - November 2, 2016

Don't let anyone's ignorance, hate, drama or negativity stop you from being the best person you can be.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - November 1, 2016

Your mind will learn to answer most questions if you can learn to relax and wait for an answer.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - October 31, 2016

Don't make "hope" your business plan. It's not enough to want it. You have to work it!
~ Mary Christensen

Daily Zen Quote - October 30, 2016

Every family tree products some lemons, some nuts and a few bad apples.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - October 29, 2016

A man asked Lord Buddha "I want happiness."
Lord Buddha said first remove "I" that's ego.
Then remove "Want" that's desire.
See now you are left with only "Happiness"
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - October 28, 2016

When someone you love becomes a memory,
that memory becomes a treasure.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - October 27, 2016

Let your wings of forgiveness flutter and take you into a garden where the flowers of peace blossom.
~ Diodinsky

Daily Zen Quote - October 26, 2016

Family like branches on a tree,
we all grow in a different direction
yet our roots remain as one.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - October 25, 2016

Having somewhere to go is Home.
Having someone to love is Family.
Having both is a Blessing.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - October 24, 2016

Family isn't always blood.
It's the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are.
The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - October 23, 2016

Let a man avoid evil deeds as a man who loves life avoids poison.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - October 22, 2016

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west;
people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - October 21, 2016

Sometimes you have to be your own hero.
Because sometimes the people you can't live without, can live without you.
~ Unkown

Daily Zen Quote - October 20, 2016

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - October 19, 2016

If you love a flower, don't pick it up.
Because if you pick it up it dies and it ceases to be what you love.
So if you love a flower, let it be.
Love is not about possession.
Love is about appreciation.
~ Osho

Daily Zen Quote - October 18, 2016

If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - October 17, 2016

Piglet: How do you spell love?
Pooh: You don't spell it, you feel it.
~ Winnie the Pooh

Daily Zen Quote - October 16, 2016

A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose - a cause to pursue, a person to love, a goal to achieve.
~ John Maxwell

Daily Zen Quote - October 15, 2016

Find a place where there is joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.
~ Joseph Campbell

Daily Zen Quote - October 14, 2016

You were given this life, because you're strong enough to live it.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - October 13, 2016

Hope is like a road in the country; there never was a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.
~ Lin Yutang

Daily Zen Quote - October 12, 2016

Meditation is not just relaxation;
it's primary purpose is to develop the capacity to respond skillfully and gracefully to life's difficulties as well as it's joys.
~ Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche

Daily Zen Quote - October 11, 2016

...From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Daily Zen Quote - October 10, 2016

Hard Times are like a washing machine.
They twist,
Turn & Knock Us Around,
But in the end we come out
cleaner, brighter and better than before.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - October 9, 2016

Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to your dreams as you do to your fears.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - October 8, 2016

A strong woman believes that they are strong enough to face their journey, but a woman of strength has faith that it is in this journey that they will become strong.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - October 7, 2016

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - October 6, 2016

Fear can keeps us up all night long, but Faith makes one fine pillow.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - October 5, 2016

I never see what has been "Done", I only see what remains to be...
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - October 4, 2016

Accept what is, let go of what was, and have Faith in what will be.
~ David Avocado Wolfe

Daily Zen Quote - October 3, 2016

On life's journey Faith is nourishment, virtuous, deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - October 2, 2016

When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - October 1, 2016

Leave footprints of kindness wherever you go.
~ Unknown

Daily Zen Quote - September 30, 2016

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth:
not going all the way and not starting.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 29, 2016

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 28, 2016

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 27, 2016

Five Hindrances:
1. Sense Craving
2. Anger or Ill Will
3. Sloth and Torpor
4. Restlessness and Worry
5. Doubt and Inner Critic
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 26, 2016

When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings: when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 25, 2016

The joy of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship. It is the spiritual inspiration that comes to you when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust with a friendship.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Daily Zen Quote - September 24, 2016

Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.
~ Dalai Lama

Daily Zen Quote - September 23, 2016

If it is not truthful and not helpful, don't say it.
If it is truthful and not helpful, don't say it.
If it is not truthful yet helpful, don't say it.
If it is truthful and helpful, wait for the right time.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 22, 2016

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 21, 2016

Friendship depends on you, not the other person. What matters is what you put into a friendship, not what you get out of it.
~ Daisaku Ikeda

Daily Zen Quote - September 20, 2016

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 19, 2016

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.
~ Proverb Saying

Daily Zen Quote - September 18, 2016

Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.
~ Herman Hesse

Daily Zen Quote - September 17, 2016

Let go or be dragged.
~ Zen Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - September 16, 2016

Accept what , let go of what was, and have faith in what will be.
~ Zen Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - September 15, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - September 14, 2016

Maintaining mindfulness, especially when confronted with challenging situations, means staying focused while also and letting go. This way you remain non-judgemental, allowing things to be as they are.
~ Ed and Deb Shapiro

Daily Zen Quote - September 13, 2016

Life is an echo.
What you send out,
comes back.
What you sow,
you reap.
What you give, you get.
What you see in others,
exists in you.
~ Zig Ziglar

Daily Zen Quote - September 12, 2016

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
~ Lao Tzu

Daily Zen Quote - September 11, 2016

A jug fills drop by drop.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 10, 2016

There is no path to happiness; happiness is the path.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 9, 2016

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 8, 2016

Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 7, 2016

No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 6, 2016

Success is not the key to happiness; happiness is the key to success.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 5, 2016

His success may be great, but be it ever so great the wheel of fortune may turn again and bring him down into the dust.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - September 4, 2016

Guild, regret, resentment, sadness and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past and not enough presence.
~ Eckhart Tolle

Daily Zen Quote - September 3, 2016

My experience is that the teachers we need most are the people we're living with right now.
~ Byron Katie

Daily Zen Quote - September 2, 2016

If you want to change the world, start with the next person who comes to you in need.
~ B.D. Schiers

Daily Zen Quote - September 1, 2016

Practice is this life, and realization is this life, and this life is revealed right here and now.
~ Maezumi Roshi

Daily Zen Quote - August 31, 2016

I'm here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away.
~ Pema Chödrön

Daily Zen Quote - August 30, 2016

Whatever you are, be there totally.
~ Eckhart Tolle

Daily Zen Quote - August 29, 2016

The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That's all there ever is.
~ Eckhart Tolle

Daily Zen Quote - August 28, 2016

I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.
~ Anne Lamott

Daily Zen Quote - August 27, 2016

Right in the difficult we must have our joys, our happiness, our dreams: there against the depth of this background, they stand out, there for the first time we see how beautiful they are.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Daily Zen Quote - August 26, 2016

Soon, when all is well, you're going to look back on this period of your life and be so glad that you never gave up.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - August 25, 2016

Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times the 'hero' within us is revealed.
~ Bob Riley

Daily Zen Quote - August 24, 2016

In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - August 23, 2016

We acquire the strength we have overcome.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Daily Zen Quote - August 22, 2016

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - August 21, 2016

In life, you will realize there is a role for everyone you meet.
Some will test you,
some will use you,
some will love you,
and some will teach you.
But the ones who are truly important are the ones who bring out the best in you.
They are the rare and amazing people who remind you why it's worth it.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - August 20, 2016

The more you are motivated by love, the more fearless and free your action will be.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - August 19, 2016

When you seek it, you cannot find it.
~ Zen Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - August 18, 2016

Love the whole world as a mother loves her only child.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - August 17, 2016

Those who know don't tell and those who tell don't know.
~ Zen Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - August 16, 2016

A flower falls even though we love it and a weed grows even though we do not love it.
~ Dogen Zenj

Daily Zen Quote - August 15, 2016

Although gold dust is precious, when it gets in your eyes, it obstructs your vision.
~ Hsi-Tang

Daily Zen Quote - August 14, 2016

Practice is this life, and realization is this life, and this life is revealed right here and now.
~ Maezumi Roshi

Daily Zen Quote - August 13, 2016

If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. That is very serious!
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Daily Zen Quote - August 12, 2016

When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it.
~ Eckhart Tolle

Daily Zen Quote - August 11, 2016

I'm here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away.
~ Pema Chödrön

Daily Zen Quote - August 10, 2016

Wherever you are, be there totally.
~ Eckhart Tolle

Daily Zen Quote - August 9, 2016

The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is the step that you are taking at this moment. That's all there ever is.
~ Eckhart Tolle

Daily Zen Quote - August 8, 2016

This is the real secret of life - to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.
~ Alan Watts

Daily Zen Quote - August 7, 2016

Buddha was asked, "What have you gained from meditation?" He replied, "Nothing! However," Buddha said, "Let me tell you what I lost: Anger, Anxiety, Depression, Insecurity, Fear of Old Age and Death."
~ Zen Quote

Daily Zen Quote - August 6, 2016

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - August 5, 2016

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
~ Buddhist Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - August 4, 2016

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - August 3, 2016

There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.' No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.
~ Zen Quote

Daily Zen Quote - August 2, 2016

When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings; when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - August 1, 2016

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, Heaven or Hell.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 31, 2016

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have and one of the best things you can be.
~ Douglas Pagels

Daily Zen Quote - July 30, 2016

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.
~Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 29, 2016

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
~ Dalai Lama

Daily Zen Quote - July 28, 2016

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
~ Lao Tzu

Daily Zen Quote - July 27, 2016

I gained nothing at all from supreme enlightenment and for that very reason it is called supreme enlightenment.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 26, 2016

People in this world look at things mistakenly, and think that what they do not understand must be the void. This is not the true void. It is bewilderment...When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true void.
~ Miyamoto Musashi

Daily Zen Quote - July 25, 2016

Although gold dust is precious, when it gets in your eyes, it obstructs your vision.
~ Hsi-Tang

Daily Zen Quote - July 24, 2016

Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.
~ St. Francis de Sales

Daily Zen Quote - July 23, 2016

Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.
~ Wayne W. Dyer

Daily Zen Quote - July 22, 2016

Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak.
~ Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - July 21, 2016

Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one's own acts, done and undone.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 20, 2016

You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day, unless you're too busy; then you should sit for an hour.
~ Old Zen Saying

Daily Zen Quote - July 19, 2016

Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and chose the path that leads to wisdom.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 18, 2016

No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 17, 2016

Courage is not doing something in the absence of fear but knowing that something else is more important than fear. So we do it.
~ Tsem Tulku Rinpoche

Daily Zen Quote - July 16, 2016

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 15, 2016

The mind is everything.
What you think you become.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 14, 2016

Three things cannot hide for long: The moon, the sun and the truth.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 13, 2016

If I know I will die tomorrow, I can still learn something tonight.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 12, 2016

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 11, 2016

Before giving, the mind of the giver is happy; while giving, the mind of the giver is made peaceful; and having given, the mind of the giver is uplifted.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 10, 2016

Strength is born in the deep silence of long-suffering hearts; not amid joy.
~ Arthur Helps

Daily Zen Quote - July 9, 2016

Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.
~ Tibetan Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - July 8, 2016

Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.
~ Marcus Aurelius

Daily Zen Quote - July 7, 2016

Silence is a source of great strength.
~ Lao Tzu

Daily Zen Quote - July 6, 2016

You will not be punished for you anger, you will be punished by your anger.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - July 5, 2016

Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.
~ Dalai Lama

Daily Zen Quote - July 4, 2016

Go within every day and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow out your candle.
~ Katherine Dunham

Daily Zen Quote - July 3, 2016

Don't seek, don't search, don't ask, don't knock, don't demand - relax. If you relax, it comes. If you relax, it is there. If you relax, you start vibrating with it.
~ Osho

Daily Zen Quote - July 2, 2016

The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.
~ Robert M. Pirsig

Daily Zen Quote - July 1, 2016

All that we are is the result of we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - June 30, 2016

The great path has no gates. Thousands of roads enter it. One who passes through this gateless gate. Walks freely between Heaven and Earth.
~ Ekai

Daily Zen Quote - June 29, 2016

You can't calm the storm. So stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.
~ Timber Hawkeye

Daily Zen Quote - June 28, 2016

And we will shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun.
~ John Lennon

Daily Zen Quote - June 27, 2016

The time to relax is when you don't have time for it.
~ Sidney J. Morris

Daily Zen Quote - June 26, 2016

The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.

~ Buddha Quote

Daily Zen Quote - June 25, 2016

The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.

~ Buddha Quote

Daily Zen Quote - June 24, 2016

The greatest effort is not concerned with results.

~ Buddha Quote

Daily Zen Quote - June 23, 2016

The greatest patience is humility.

~ Buddha Quote

Daily Zen Quote - June 22, 2016

The greatest action is no conforming with the worlds ways.

~ Buddha Quote

Daily Zen Quote - June 21, 2016

The greatest precept is continual awareness.

~ Buddha Quote

Daily Zen Quote - June 20, 2016

The greatest worth is self-mastery.

~ Buddha Quote

Daily Zen Quote - June 19, 2016

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.
~ Dogen

Daily Zen Quote - June 18, 2016

Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.
~ Dalai Lama

Daily Zen Quote - June 17, 2016

If light is in your heart,
you will find your way home.
~ Rumi

Daily Zen Quote - June 16, 2016

Each morning we are born again.
What we do today is what matters most.
~ Buddha

Daily Zen Quote - June 15, 2016

To seek is to suffer.
To seek nothing is bliss.
~ Bohidharma

Daily Zen Quote - June 14, 2016

We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.
~ Zen Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - June 13, 2016

The only Zen you find at the top of the mountain is the Zen that you bring with you.
~ Zen Proverb

Daily Zen Quote - June 12, 2016

“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 from What Is Zen?

Daily Zen Quote - June 11, 2016

“What happens to the drop of wine
That you pour into the sea?
Does it remain itself, unchanged?
It is as if it never existed.
So it is with the soul: Love drinks it in,
It is united with Truth,
Its old nature fades away,
It is no longer master of itself.

The soul wills and yet does not will:
Its will belongs to Another.
It has eyes only for this beauty;
It no longer seeks to possess, as was its wont--
It lacks the strength to possess such sweetness.
The base of this highest of peaks
Is founded on nichil,
Shaped nothingness, made one with the Lord.”
~ Jacopone da Todi from The God-Madness

Daily Zen Quote - June 10, 2016

“Your life is your practice. Your spiritual practice does not occur someplace other than in your life right now, and your life is nowhere other than where you are. You are looking for answers, insight, and wisdom that you already possess. Live the life in front of you, be the life you are, and see what you find out for yourself.”
~ Karen Maezen Miller from Momma Zen: Walking the Crooked Path of Motherhood

Daily Zen Quote - June 9, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - June 8, 2016

“To preserve the silence within--amid all the noise. To remain open and quiet, a moist humus in the fertile darkness where the rain falls and the grain ripens--no matter how many tramp across the parade ground in whirling dust under an arid sky.”
~ Dag Hammarskjöld from Markings

Daily Zen Quote - June 7, 2016

“Not till your thoughts cease all their branching here and there, not till you abandon all thoughts of seeking for something, not till your mind is motionless as wood or stone, will you be on the right road to the Gate.”
~ Huang Po from The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: On the Transmission of Mind

Daily Zen Quote - June 6, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - June 5, 2016

“The more you know, the less you need.”
~ Yvon Chouinard from Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman

Daily Zen Quote - June 4, 2016

“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 - June 3, 2016

“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 - June 2, 2016

“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 - June 1, 2016

“When you've understood this scripture, throw it away. If you can't understand this scripture, throw it away. I insist on your freedom.”
~ Jack Kerouac from The Scripture of the Golden Eternity

Daily Zen Quote - May 31, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - May 30, 2016

“It is easy to believe we are each waves and forget we are also the ocean.”
~ Jon J. Muth

Daily Zen Quote - May 29, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - May 28, 2016

“Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.”
~ Zhuangzi Nan-Hua-Ch'en-Ching, or, the Treatise of the transcendent master from Nan-Hua

Daily Zen Quote - May 27, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - May 26, 2016

“Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.”
~ Alan W. Watts

Daily Zen Quote - May 25, 2016

“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.”
~ Ray Bradbury

Daily Zen Quote - May 24, 2016

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh from Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Daily Zen Quote - May 23, 2016

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and right doing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”
~ Rumi

Daily Zen Quote - May 22, 2016

“Not being tense but ready.
Not thinking but not dreaming.
Not being set but flexible.
Liberation from the uneasy sense of confinement.
It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come.”
~ Bruce Lee from Tao of Jeet Kune Do

Daily Zen Quote - May 21, 2016

“The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling.”
~ Robert M. Pirsig from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

Daily Zen Quote - May 20, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - May 19, 2016

“I'm simply saying that there is a way to be sane. I'm saying that you can get rid of all this insanity created by the past in you. Just by being a simple witness of your thought processes.

It is simply sitting silently, witnessing the thoughts, passing before you. Just witnessing, not interfering not even judging, because the moment you judge you have lost the pure witness. The moment you say “this is good, this is bad,” you have already jumped onto the thought process.

It takes a little time to create a gap between the witness and the mind. Once the gap is there, you are in for a great surprise, that you are not the mind, that you are the witness, a watcher.

And this process of watching is the very alchemy of real religion. Because as you become more and more deeply rooted in witnessing, thoughts start disappearing. You are, but the mind is utterly empty.

That’s the moment of enlightenment. That is the moment that you become for the first time an unconditioned, sane, really free human being.”
~ Osho

Daily Zen Quote - May 18, 2016

“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.”
~ Ray Bradbury

Daily Zen Quote - May 17, 2016

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh from Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Daily Zen Quote - May 16, 2016

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and right doing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”
~ Rumi

Daily Zen Quote - May 15, 2016

“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 - May 14, 2016

“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 - May 13, 2016

“What is not true does not exist in this moment.”
~ Bert McCoy

Daily Zen Quote - May 12, 2016

“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 neighbouring wood: — in all these I am practising 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 - May 11, 2016

“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 - May 10, 2016

“When no discriminating thoughts arise,
the old mind ceases to exist.
When thought objects vanish,
the thinking-subject vanishes,
as when the mind vanishes, objects vanish.
Things are objects because of the subject;
the mind is such because of things.
Understand the relativity of these two
and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness.
In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable
and each contains in itself the whole world.
If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine
you will not be tempted to prejudice and opinion.”
~ Sengcan

Daily Zen Quote - May 9, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - May 8, 2016

“When no discriminating thoughts arise,
the old mind ceases to exist.
When thought objects vanish,
the thinking-subject vanishes,
as when the mind vanishes, objects vanish.
Things are objects because of the subject;
the mind is such because of things.
Understand the relativity of these two
and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness.
In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable
and each contains in itself the whole world.
If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine
you will not be tempted to prejudice and opinion.”
~ Sengcan

Daily Zen Quote - May 7, 2016

“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 - May 6, 2016

“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

Daily Zen Quote - May 5, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - May 4, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - May 3, 2016

“Anywhere we go, we will have our self with us; we cannot escape ourselves.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Daily Zen Quote - May 2, 2016

“There is nowhere to arrive except the present moment.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh from How to Sit

My Sincerest Apology!

 To My Readers,
Please accept my sincerest apologies for not updating this blog in over a month. I have been without a laptop for over a month and have just been able to get a replacement laptop, so I will be able to update again starting in a couple of days while I get everything set up on this new laptop. I was affected by a flood at the middle of March and then my father went into the hospital and it was just one thing after another. So I ask that you just be patient with me for a couple more days and then I will get back to posting daily. Again I am so sorry for not posting but it wasn't for the lack of trying at all, I love posting daily; it's just that I have been unable to but now I'm back and ready to get back to daily posting again!

Thanks again for understanding!

Daily Zen Quote - March 12, 2016

“The glass is neither half empty, nor half full. The glass is just a glass and it's content can perpetually change with your perception.”
~ Jennifer Sodini

Daily Zen Quote - March 11, 2016

“The son needs the father to have access to his source, and the father needs the son to have access to the future and the infinite.”
~ Hanh Nhat Thich from No Death, No Fear

Daily Zen Quote - March 10, 2016

“We should live every day like people who have just been rescued from the moon.”
~ Hanh Nhat Thich from No Death, No Fear

Daily Zen Quote - March 9, 2016

“What is personal death?

Asking this question and pausing to look inward - isn't personal death a concept? Isn't there a thought-and-picture series going on in the brain? These scenes of personal ending take place solely in the imagination, and yet they trigger great mental ad physical distress - thinking of one's cherished attachments an their sudden, irreversible termination.

Similarly, if there is 'pain when I let some of the beauty of life in' - isn't this pain the result of thinking, 'I won't be here any longer to enjoy this beauty?' Or, 'No one will be around and no beauty left to be enjoyed if there is total nuclear devastation.'

Apart from the horrendous tragedy of human warfare - why is there this fear of 'me' not continuing? Is it because I don't realize that all my fear and trembling is for an image? Because I really believe that this image is myself?

In the midst of this vast, unfathomable, ever-changing, dying, and renewing flow of life, the human brain is ceaselessly engaged in trying to fix for itself a state of permanency and certainty. Having the capacity to think and form pictures of ourselves, to remember them and become deeply attached to them, we take this world of pictures and ideas for real. We thoroughly believe in the reality of the picture story of our personal life. We are totally identified with it and want it to go on forever. The idea of "forever" is itself an invention of the human brain. Forever is a dream.

Questioning beyond all thoughts, images, memories, and beliefs, questioning profoundly into the utter darkness of not-knowing, the realization may suddenly dawn that one is nothing at all - nothing - that all one has been holding on to are pictures and dreams. Being nothing is being everything. It is wholeness. Compassion. It is the ending of separation, fear, and sorrow.

Is there pain when no one is there to hold on?

There is beauty where there is no "me".”
~ Toni Packer from The Work of This Moment

Daily Zen Quote - March 8, 2016

“When something comes from within, when it is a part of you, you have no choice but to live it, to express it.”
~ Kamal Ravikant from Live Your Truth

Daily Zen Quote - March 7, 2016

“Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way”
~ Alan W. Watts from The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

Daily Zen Quote - March 6, 2016

“We will be entering the beautiful world of a Zen master's no-mind. Sosan is the third Zen Patriarch. Nothing much is known about him- this is as it should be, because history records only violence. History does not record silence- it cannot record it. All records are of disturbance. Whenever someone becomes really silent, he disappears from all records, he is no more a part of our madness. So it is as it should be.

Ch. 1: The Great Way Is Not Difficult”
~ Osho from Hsin Hsin Ming, the Book of Nothing: Discourses on the Faith Mind of Sosan

Daily Zen Quote - March 5, 2016

“What is personal death?

Asking this question and pausing to look inward - isn't personal death a concept? Isn't there a thought-and-picture series going on in the brain? These scenes of personal ending take place solely in the imagination, and yet they trigger great mental ad physical distress - thinking of one's cherished attachments an their sudden, irreversible termination.

Similarly, if there is 'pain when I let some of the beauty of life in' - isn't this pain the result of thinking, 'I won't be here any longer to enjoy this beauty?' Or, 'No one will be around and no beauty left to be enjoyed if there is total nuclear devastation.'

Apart from the horrendous tragedy of human warfare - why is there this fear of 'me' not continuing? Is it because I don't realize that all my fear and trembling is for an image? Because I really believe that this image is myself?

In the midst of this vast, unfathomable, ever-changing, dying, and renewing flow of life, the human brain is ceaselessly engaged in trying to fix for itself a state of permanency and certainty. Having the capacity to think and form pictures of ourselves, to remember them and become deeply attached to them, we take this world of pictures and ideas for real. We thoroughly believe in the reality of the picture story of our personal life. We are totally identified with it and want it to go on forever. The idea of "forever" is itself an invention of the human brain. Forever is a dream.

Questioning beyond all thoughts, images, memories, and beliefs, questioning profoundly into the utter darkness of not-knowing, the realization may suddenly dawn that one is nothing at all - nothing - that all one has been holding on to are pictures and dreams. Being nothing is being everything. It is wholeness. Compassion. It is the ending of separation, fear, and sorrow.

Is there pain when no one is there to hold on?

There is beauty where there is no "me".”
~ Toni Packer from The Work of This Moment

Daily Zen Quote - March 4, 2016

“When something comes from within, when it is a part of you, you have no choice but to live it, to express it.”
~ Kamal Ravikant from Live Your Truth

Daily Zen Quote - March 3, 2016

“Zen is not some fancy, special art of living. Our teaching is just to live, always in reality, in its exact sense. To make our effort, moment after moment, is our way. In an exact sense, the only thing we actually can study in our life is that on which we are working in each moment. We cannot even study Buddha’s words.”
-
“So we should be concentrated with our full mind and body on what we do; and we should be faithful, subjectively and objectively, to ourselves, and especially to our feelings. Even when you do not feel so well, it is better to express how you feel without any particular attachment or intention. So you may say, “Oh, I am sorry, I do not feel well.”
~ Shunryu Suzuki from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice

Daily Zen Quote - March 2, 2016

“See for yourself whether letting go when a part of you really wants to hold on doesn't bring a deeper satisfaction than clinging.”
~ Jon Kabat-Zinn from Wherever You Go, There You Are - Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life

Daily Zen Quote - March 1, 2016

“Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken! Take heed, do not squander your life.”
~ Dōgen

Daily Zen Quote - February 29, 2016

“Learning how to think' really means learning how to exercise some control over how & what you think. It means being conscious & aware enough to choose what you pay attention to & to choose how you construct meaning from experience.”
~ David Foster Wallace from This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

Daily Zen Quote - February 28, 2016

“The most dangerous thing about an academic education is that it enables my tendency to over-intellectualize stuff, to get lost in abstract thinking instead of simply paying attention to what’s going on in front of me.”
~ David Foster Wallace from This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life

Daily Zen Quote - February 27, 2016

“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 neighbouring wood: — in all these I am practising 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 - February 26, 2016

“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 - February 25, 2016

“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 - February 24, 2016

“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 - February 23, 2016

“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 - February 22, 2016

“Zen is the period of time during which a person has true clarity of vision.”
~ Dr. Ernst Arnold

Daily Zen Quote - February 21, 2016

“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 - February 20, 2016

“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 - February 19, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - February 18, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - February 17, 2016

“When no discriminating thoughts arise,
the old mind ceases to exist.
When thought objects vanish,
the thinking-subject vanishes,
as when the mind vanishes, objects vanish.
Things are objects because of the subject;
the mind is such because of things.
Understand the relativity of these two
and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness.
In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable
and each contains in itself the whole world.
If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine
you will not be tempted to prejudice and opinion.”
~ Sengcan

Daily Zen Quote - February 16, 2016

“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

Daily Zen Quote - February 15, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - February 14, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - February 13, 2016

“See for yourself whether letting go when a part of you really wants to hold on doesn't bring a deeper satisfaction than clinging.”
~ Jon Kabat-Zinn from Wherever You Go, There You Are - Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life

Daily Zen Quote - February 12, 2016

“The ignorant eschew phenomena but not thought; the wise eschew thought but not phenomena.”
~ Huang Po

Daily Zen Quote - February 11, 2016

“Shall you live authentically who you are or will you spend your allotted living the life of someone you imagine your self to be?”
~ Earl R. Smith II

Daily Zen Quote - February 10, 2016

“Zen is a journey of exploration and a way of living that, in and of itself, does not belong to any one religion or tradition. It is about experiencing life in the here and now and about removing the dualistic distinctions between "I" and "you" between "subject" and "objective", between our spiritual and our ordinary, everyday activities.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - February 9, 2016

“Although you may have never sat down and defined what your philosophy is, it is fully operative and working in your life at all times. It deals with what you believe about the world in which you live, about its people and events, about how you affect them.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - February 8, 2016

“The answers are never "out there." All the answers are "in there," inside you, waiting to be discovered.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - February 7, 2016

“They asked a wise man: Why don’t we ever hear you backbiting and slandering?
He said: I’m still not happy with myself to start with others.”
~ Ahmad Musa Jibril

Daily Zen Quote - February 6, 2016

“All other creatures look down toward the earth, but man was given a face so that might turn his eyes toward the stars and his gaze upon the sky.”
~ Ovid

Daily Zen Quote - February 5, 2016

“The glass is neither half empty, nor half full. The glass is just a glass and it's content can perpetually change with your perception.”
~ Jennifer Sodini

Daily Zen Quote - February 4, 2016

“The son needs the father to have access to his source, and the father needs the son to have access to the future and the infinite.”
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh from No Death, No Fear

Daily Zen Quote - February 3, 2016

“Life is a river," a wise friend told me. "It's flowing. You're never at the same place twice.”
~ Kamal Ravikant from Live Your Truth

Daily Zen Quote - February 2, 2016

“I discovered that those who seldom dwell on their emotions know better than anyone else just what an emotion is.”
~ John Cage

Daily Zen Quote - February 1, 2016

“We should live every day like people who have just been rescued from the moon.”
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh from No Death, No Fear

Daily Zen Quote - January 31, 2016

“What is a course of history, or philosophy, or poetry, no matter how well selected, or the best society, or the most admirable routine of life, compared with the discipline of looking always at what is to be seen?”
~ Henry David Thoreau from Walden

Daily Zen Quote - January 30, 2016

“We should live every day like people who have just been rescued from the moon.”
~ Thích Nhất Hạnh from No Death, No Fear

Daily Zen Quote - January 29, 2016

“When you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do.”
~ Shunryu Suzuki from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

Daily Zen Quote - January 28, 2016

“Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way”
~ Alan W. Watts from The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

Daily Zen Quote - January 27, 2016

“The true tragedy in most people’s lives is that they are far better than they imagine themselves to be and, as a result, end up being much less than they might be.”
~ Earl R. Smith II from Zen Mentoring: Forty Meditations

Daily Zen Quote - January 26, 2016

“The things I carry are my thoughts. That's it. They are the only weight. My thoughts determine whether I am free and light or burdened.”
~ Kamal Ravikant from Live Your Truth

Daily Zen Quote - January 25, 2016

“A strong personal philosophy does more than sustain us through the tragedies of life. It also stains us daily in everything we think and do. It gives us optimism and hope.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - January 24, 2016

“Zen movement is a meditative practice.”
~ Bryant McGill from Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

Daily Zen Quote - January 23, 2016

“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 the Wisdom of Homer's Odyssey to Navigate Life's Perils and Pitfalls

Daily Zen Quote - January 22, 2016

“The answers are never "out there." All the answers are "in there," inside you, waiting to be discovered.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - January 21, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - January 20, 2016

“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 - January 19, 2016

“Again, all of life presents us with two basic ways to treat events. We can either label them "good 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 - January 18, 2016

“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 - January 17, 2016

“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 - January 16, 2016

Stress comes from the way you relate to events or situations.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - January 15, 2016

“Life is very simple. Just sometimes put your head away, sometimes behead yourself, sometimes look with no clouds in the eyes - just look. Sometimes sit by the side of a tree - just feel. By the side of a waterfall - listen. Lie down on the beach and listen to the roar of the ocean, feel the sand, the coolness of it, or look at the stars, and let that silence penetrate you. Or look at the dark night and let that velvety darkness surround you, envelop you, dissolve you. This is the way of the simple heart.”
~ Osho from The Buddha Said...: Meeting the Challenge of Life's Difficulties

Daily Zen Quote - January 14, 2016

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

Daily Zen Quote - January 13, 2016

“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 - January 12, 2016

“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 - January 11, 2016

“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 - January 10, 2016

“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 - January 9, 2016

The best way to pay for a lovely moment
is to enjoy it.
~ Richard Bach

Daily Zen Quote - January 8, 2016

Patience is the companion of wisdom.
~ Saint Augustine

Daily Zen Quote - January 7, 2016

When you make peach with yourself,
you make peace with the world.
~ Maha Ghosananda

Daily Zen Quote - January 6, 2016

It does not matter how slowly you go
as long as you do not stop.
~ Confucius

Daily Zen Quote - January 5, 2016

Faith is the bird that feels the light
and sings when the dawn is still dark.
~ Rabindranath Tagore

Daily Zen Quote - January 4, 2016

You must learn to be still in the midst of activity
and to be vibrantly alive in repost.
~ Indira Gandhi

Daily Zen Quote - January 3, 2016

Variety is the soul of pleasure
~ Aphra Behn

Daily Zen Quote - January 2, 2016

“Although you may have never sat down and defined what your philosophy is, it is fully operative and working in your life at all times. It deals with what you believe about the world in which you live, about its people and events, about how you affect them.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness

Daily Zen Quote - January 1, 2016

“The answers are never "out there." All the answers are "in there," inside you, waiting to be discovered.”
~ Chris Prentiss from Zen and the Art of Happiness