Zen Book of Life by Mark Zocchi
Although I try to hold the single thought of Buddha's teaching in my heart, I cannot help but hear the many crickets' voices calling as well.
ISUMI SHIKIBU
//
When my house burned down I gained an unobstructed view of the moonlight sky
ZEN WISDOM
//
Out of clutter,
find simplicity.
From discord,
find harmony.
In the middle of difficulty
lies opportunity.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
//
Sit quietly doing nothing,
Spring comes,
And the grass grows
By itself.
ZEN WISDOM (SAYING)
//
There is no place in Buddhism for using effort.
Just be ordinary and nothing special.
Relieve your bowels, pass water,
Put your clothes on
and eat your food.
Ignorant people will laugh at me,
But wise will understand.
LIN-CHI
//
Do not seek the truth.
Only cease to cherish options.
ZEN SAYING
//
Everything that begins also ends.
Make peace with that and all will be well.
THE BUDDHA
//
Ask not what tomorrow may bring
But count as blessing
Every day that fate allows you.
HORACE
//
Do not dwell in the past
Do not dream of the future.
Concentrate the mind
On the present moment.
THE BUDDHA
//
Your worst enemy cannot harm you
As much as your own thoughts,
unguarded.
But once mastered,
No one can help you as much.
THE DHAMMAPADA
//
The universe always strikes you at your weakest point
Because that's what needs most strengthening
CHRIS PRENTISS
//
Better than a thousand careless words
is one single word that gives peace.
Better than a hundred years lived heedlessness,
Without contemplation,
Is one single day lived in wisdom
and deep contemplation.
Better than a hundred years lived in confusion,
Is a single day lived with courage and wise intention.
THE DHAMMAPADA
//
There are no ordinary moments.
DAN MILLMAN
//
Death is extraordinary like life, when we know how to live. You cannot live without dying. You cannot live if you do not die psychologically every minute.
--Krishnamurti
//
The foolish reject what they see; the wise reject what they think.
--Zen saying
//
As soon as you have made a thought, laugh at it.
LAO TZU
//
All beings are on the path,
all victims of the same existence.
No one is better than the next person.
DENG MING-DAO
//
If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.
FROM THE TAO TE CHING
//
So if loss of what gives happiness causes you distress when it fades, you can now understand that such happiness is worthless.
CHUANG TZU
//
When I let go of what I am,
I become what I might be.
LAO TZU
//
Changelessness is death.
CHINESE PROVERB
//
He who knows he has enough is rich.
TAO TE CHING
//
Silence is a source of great strength.
LAO TZU
//
When the pupil is ready to learn, a teacher will appear.
ZEN PROVERB
//
A flower falls even though we love it and a weed grows even though we do not love it.
DOGEN ZENJI
//
When is the path?
The Zen Master Nan-sen was asked.
Everyday life is the path,
he answered.
MASTER NAN-SEN
//
It takes a wise man to learn from his mistakes,
but an even wiser man to learn from others.
ZEN PROVERB
//
Anything on the path can be used for realisation.
LO JONG TEACHINGS (TIBETAN TERM)
//
If you can rid your self of conceptual thought, you will have accomplished everything.
HUANG PO
//
To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.
CONFUCIUS
//
Do not seek the truth; stop having an opinion.
SENG-T'SAN
//
As we do consistent, patient zazen we begin to know that we are nothing but attachments; they rule our lives. But we never lose an attachment by saying it has to go. Only as we gain true awareness of its true nature does it quietly and imperceptibly wither away; like a sandcastle with waves rolling over, it just smoothes out and finally Where is it? What was it?
--Charlotte Joko Beck
//
If you cant find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
-- Zen Master Dogen
//
Zen is not some kind of excitement, but merely concentration on our usual every day life.
-- Shrunryu Suzuki
//
We are not in chaos, we are the chaos.
-- MZ
//
All conditioned things are impermanent. Work out your own salvation with diligence.
-- The Buddha's last words.
//
He who wherever he goes is attached to no person and to no place by ties of flesh; who accepts good and evil alike, neither welcoming the one nor shrinking from the other--take it that such a one has attained perfection.
-- Bhagavad Gita
//
The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
-- Lao Tzu