#zen

"Too lazy to be ambitious,I let the world take care of itself.Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?Listening to the night rain on my roof,I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out."

"The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth,"and so it goes away. Puzzling."

"Life is more or less a lie, but then again, that's exactly the way we want it to be."

"Life is a journey. Time is a river. The door is ajar"

"Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet."

"What we can change is our perceptions, which have the effect of changing everything."

"But people of the deepest understanding look within, distracted by nothing. Since a clear mind is the Buddha, they attain the understanding of a Buddha without using the mind."

"The way out is through the door. Why is it that no one will use this method?"

"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."

"Because even among contrarians, I’m a contrarian. But all of this is just words of bronze, third place rhetoric. What do I really mean when I say we want to shock society into awareness? Do we mean we want more originality and individuality? Less TV, more reading, writing, actual thinking? Less sheep, more shepherd pie? Yes, yes, and a little more pie, please. Oh, and some more sweet tea, too"

"Many have died; you also will die. The drum of death is being beaten. The world has fallen in love with a dream. Only sayings of the wise will remain."

"To Do Today, 1/17/081. Sit and think2. Reach enlightenment3. Feed the cats"

"Who we are now is all that really matters."

"A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored, "Why is there so much suffering?"Suzuki Roshi replied, "No reason."

"I discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color--something which exists before all forms and colors appear... No matter what god or doctrine you believe in, if you become attached to it, your belief will be based more or less on a self-centered idea."

"The more you know, the less you need."

"In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few"

"Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen."

"Haiku is not a shriek, a howl, a sigh, or a yawn; rather, it is the deep breath of life."

"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."