All Quotes By Tag: Zen

“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.”

“When you catch yourself slipping into a pool of negativity, notice how it derives from nothing other than resistance to the current situation.”

“You see, from where I stand, there are a couple of ways. You continue your journey and you will find your path or the path is already there and you aren’t just able to see it.”

“It’s true that many overly negative people actually fear letting go of their negativity, and it’s because it has become a part of their identity. If this is the case, make it a smoother transition by releasing and replacing one negative opinion at a time. It certainly is an identity shift, but it’s one that brings greater fulfillment and life satisfaction.”

“If I knew then what I know now I guess it’d make no difference; Fate’s sure in the way somehow. What’s important is the essence. Although we still have free will We also have a whole lot to deal.”

“So I’ve held on to Catholicism or Zen, as practices, as fantasy futures, as possible identities. But when I actually dare to lower myself down into this emptiness—no, that sounds entirely too dualistic and willful and “courageous”—but when this seeing suddenly happens and thought relaxes, Zen drops completely away, and something much deeper is contacted, some entirely other way of being.”

“We are searching for the core of our lives; our culture intuits that writing, that ancient activity, might be the pathway…Awakening does not feed ego’s needs and desires; it pulverizes the self. Our society couldn’t knowingly bear such reduction, so we’ve tricked ourselves into the same path but call it writing.”

“A seeker of radical strenght Keeps everything on track, Feeble force yields at length, Not sure where to go back. When one can’t find courage, And all the efforts seem vain, It’s advised to fight like a sage: Be powerful like a bullet train! Too much work and no play Can make a brain go astray! Determined to live and stay Can lead life into a long way.”

“I’d love to give you somethingbut what would help?”

“it isn’t that we’re alone or not alonewhose voice do you want mine? yours?”

“don’t wait for the man standing in the snowto cut off his arm help him now”

“I did not believe in stalemates. I believed in resolutions, one way or another, and if I found myself on the losing end, so be it. Losing meant quiet, and forgetting quickly, and giving up nothing of any real worth to me. I did not debate restaurant bills, politics, wrongly delivered mail, divorces. These things were officiously loud, and silence was always best.”

“Eventually, it boils down to two choices – do I wish to experience this physical reality primarily through joy or do I want to experience it through suffering? That’s all there is to it. And since each person eventually works their way toward the realization that conscious expansion can happen through joy rather than suffering – enlightenment is a natural byproduct.”

“In pale moonlight / the wisteria’s scent / comes from far away.”

“The effects you will have on your students are infinite and currently unknown; you will possibly shape the way they proceed in their careers, the way they will vote, the way they will behave as partners and spouses, the way they will raise their kids.”