Zen Quotes

“Zen is a present state of mind where one honors the task they are partaking of, even if the task is sitting still and doing nothing. Zen is engrained in the Japanese way of life. You can see it everywhere: when a sushi chef delicately slices a piece of raw fish, when a retired man watches an autumn leaf fall from a tree in the park, when a mother prepares and places a cup of tea before her child. When actions and thoughts are done with mindfulness, being fully present in the moment, the person performing the action or thought gives honor to the food, an idea, a task, a person, etc.”
― Jasun Ether, The Beasts of Success

“clouds very high look
not one word helped them get up there”
― Ikkyu, Crow With No Mouth

“born born everything is always born
thinking about it try not to”
― Ikkyu, Crow With No Mouth

“Once Seung Sahn Soen-sa and a student of his attended a talk at a Zen center in California. The Dharma teacher spoke about Bodhidharma. After the talk, someone asked him "What's the difference between Bodhidharma's sitting in Sorim for nine years and your sitting here now?"

The Dharma teacher said, "About five thousand miles."
The questioner said, "Is that all?"
The Dharma teacher said, "Give or take a few miles."

Later on, Soen-sa asked his student, "What do you think of these answers?"
"Not bad, not good. But the dog runs after the bone."
"How would you answer?"
"I'd say, 'Why do you make a difference?' "

Soen-sa said, "Not bad. Now you ask me."
"What's the difference between Bodhidharma's sitting in Sorim for nine years and your sitting here now?"
"Don't you know?"
"I'm listening."
"Bodhidharma sat in Sorim for nine years. I am sitting here now."

The student smiled.”
― Zen Master Seung Sahn, Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn

“The eternity of "anytime" shines in this moment "now" while the unlimitedness of "anyplace" is manifested in the limits of "here." When the universality of "anyone" dances out in the individual "I," for the first time you have the world of Zen.”
― Omori Sogen, An Introduction to Zen Training

“I'm a practicing Zen Buddhist and I'm influenced by my readings in that tradition, such as the notion that everyone is born a perfect being and we spend most of our lives with a clouded vision trying to realize our perfection," he says. At critical moments in the book, T.S. registers his inkling of this realization. When he makes his maps, it feels like taking down dictation from the universe.”
― Reif Larsen

“What we want is seldom what we need. And what we need is almost never what we want.”
― James Norbury, The Cat Who Taught Zen

“Some critic called me the Nothingness Himself and that didn't help my sense of existence any. Then I realized that existence itself is nothing and I felt better. But I'm still obsessed with the mirror and seeing no-one, nothing.
When I look at things, I always see the space they occupy. I always want the space to reappear, to make a comeback, because it's lost space when there's something in it. If I see a chair in a beautiful space, no matter how beautiful the chair is, it can never be as beautiful to me as the plain space.”
― Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

“beneath the rosy sky
veiled in mist
the blooming meadow”
― Meeta Ahluwalia

“Only the summit can illuminate its own insignificance.”
― Cory Richards, The Color of Everything: A Journey to Quiet the Chaos Within

“When your head isn’t filled with the usual noise, you’ve got plenty of space for the unexpected to come your way—and you can recognize its value when it does.”
― Matthew Bortolin, The Zen of R2-D2: Ancient Wisdom from a Galaxy Far, Far Away

“You trust that you contain the whole cosmos; you are made of stars. And that is why you respect yourself and offer reverence to yourself. And, when you look at another person, you see that they are also made of stars. They are a wonderful manifestation. They don't appear only for a hundred years: they carry eternity within them.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet

“I came to think of poverty of speech as a reflection of the richness of the mind, giving it time to explore and develop each thought.”
― J. Lam, Snow at Heaven's Edge: A Tale from the Carefree Swordsman Saga

“During my time here, I learnt that one could not escape the secular world anymore than one could escape the web of karma that one had sown. True enlightenment comes not from isolation but immersion. The monks in the temples never really abandoned the world. Their doors were always open, and they took up arms when necessary as they had demonstrated countless times before. Their severance with attachment was to connect them with greater compassion, a higher love.”
― J. Lam, Snow at Heaven's Edge: A Tale from the Carefree Swordsman Saga

“Master: Yes, it will happen! Student: What will happen, master? Master: I don't know! Student: But you said it will happen, master! Master: Yes, it will happen, but I don't know what will happen, because something always happens!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Watching the rain
satisfies a deep yearning
akin to the parched finding water”
― Meeta Ahluwalia

“Disciple: Master, what will this temple give me? Master: This temple will not give you anything! Disciple: But I came here to take something! Master: There is nothing for you to take here; everything is within you, we will help you to take something from within yourself, that's all! Disciple: What if there is nothing within me, Master? Master: Then you will get nothing!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“morning mist
on the hillside
pine trees”
― Meeta Ahluwalia

“Wind soughed in the weeds. Inside him the flesh metronome went tick, tick. Life slipped away hadon by hadon, limning every joy with a rime of grief; and he walked backward into the future, waving and crying out "Goodbye! Good-bye! Good-bye!"
A Short, Sharp Shock”
― Kim Stanley Robinson, A Short, Sharp Shock

“I wish for you not to go anywhere without me. In this world and the next. I wish for you to choose me. A pause, and softer. “That is, if you would wish it.”
― Amélie Wen Zhao

“If you are new to practice it's important to realize that simply to sit on that cushion for fifteen minutes is a victory. Just to sit with that much composure, just to be there, is fine.”
― Charlotte Joko Beck, Everyday Zen: Love & Work

“Individuals differ in the depth and force of their awakening, but without some experience of realization a person will be unable to truly understand even a word of Zen.”
― Kōun Yamada, Zen: The Authentic Gate

“One feels less like a stranger when one returns to oneself, even in dreams.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, The Raft is Not the Shore: Conversations toward a Buddhist/Christian Awareness

“The mystic and the physicist arrive at the same conclusion; one starting from the inner realm, the other from the outer world. The harmony between their views confirms the ancient Indian wisdom that Brahman, the ultimate reality without, is identical to Atman, the reality within.”
― Fritjof Capra

“Without awakening (satori) there is no Zen.”
― Kōun Yamada, Zen: The Authentic Gate

“Coming to know your true nature is not religion. There is absolutely no need to renounce your religion or to become a Buddhist in order to practice Zen.”
― Kōun Yamada, Zen: The Authentic Gate

“The experience attained through Zen practice is neither thought nor philosophy nor religion. It is merely a fact. And, strange as it may seem, the experience of that fact has the power to free us from the agonies and pains of the world.”
― Kōun Yamada, Zen: The Authentic Gate

“Although the Sino-Japanese character kū means “empty” or “void,” emptiness in Zen is neither nihilistic nor a vacuum; it doesn’t mean that there is nothing at all. Even expressions such as “All things are impermanent and empty” or “From the beginning there is not one thing” do not mean that things are completely empty. If I were pressed to say something about emptiness, I would say that it doesn’t depend on our five senses, it transcends them. If this weren’t so, the words “Form is none other than emptiness” couldn’t be reversed to read, “Emptiness is none other than form.”
― Kōun Yamada, Zen: The Authentic Gate

“Zen turns the light of introspection inward and pursues the question, “What am I?”
― Kōun Yamada, Zen: The Authentic Gate

“You must summon up a reckless resolve to break through, no matter what, and throw yourself away. When you break through, you realize great life.”
― Kōun Yamada, Zen: The Authentic Gate