Week 2022-38: Pao-chih - Collected Quotes

"Buddha-nature is natural and spontaneous; it is not caused, conditioned, or fabricated." (Pao-chih)

"Do not hold to the intellectual understanding of others; turn the light of awareness back to the root, and it is not there at all." (Pao-chih)

"If you place your mind in the midst of grasping and rejecting, you will be under the influence of those two states." (Pao-chih)

"If you realize the original mind is empty some day, the fullness of reality as is will not leave you lacking." (Pao-chih)

"Just seek nothing at all, and afflictions will naturally fall away." (Pao-chih)

"The nature of things is empty and has no verbal explanation; there is nothing at all in interdependent occurrence." (Pao-chih)

"The objects of sense are originally empty and null; ordinary people arbitrarily create attachments and fixations. Nirvana and samsara are equal; who in the world gets differential treatment? The uncontrived Great Way is natural and spontaneous; you don’t need to use your mind to figure it out." (Pao-chih)

"The right way and wrong ways are not two. When perfectly known, ordinary and sage are on the same road. Illusion and enlightenment originally have no distinction; nirvana and samsara are one suchness." (Pao-chih)

"The wise have no mind to seek Buddha. The ignorant cling to wrong and right. Passing all their lives in wasted toil, they do not see the sublime peak of realization of being as is. If you realize the essence of lust is empty, then even hellfire is cool." (Pao-chih)

"When they realize that life and death are like dreams, all their sense of seeking will spontaneously stop." (Pao-chih)

"When you know all things are equal, you are serenely clear and open, blissfully happy." (Pao-chih)

Week 2022-37: Dogen Zenji - Collected Quotes

"A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it." (Dogen Zenji)

"Bodhisattvas who study prajna-wisdom must first have deep compassion for all beings and a deep longing to save all of them. They must practice samadhi meditation with great care. Refusing to practice zazen only for their own emancipation, they must promise to ferry these sentient beings over to the other shore." (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself. Your body and mind will become clear and you will realize the unity of all things." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Don’t cling to your own understanding. Even if you do understand something, you should ask yourself if there might be something you have not fully resolved, or if there may be some higher meaning yet." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water. Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky. The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Even after getting out of samadhi, you should always be on the alert to act responsively and protect your power of concentration as you protect a baby. Then, it will be easy for you to cultivate your power of concentration until it comes to maturity." (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"Even if it is painful and lonely, associate with worthy companions." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If you want to get out of samadhi, move your body slowly, stand up calmly and not suddenly."  (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"First awaken your compassionate mind with a deep longing to save all sentient beings. You must practice samadhi meditation with great care, and promise to ferry these sentient beings over to the other shore, refusing to practice zazen only for your own emancipation." (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"Once the posture has been stabilized and the breath regulated, push forth the lower abdomen; one thinks not of good or evil." (Dogen Zenji, "Zazen gi", cca. 13th century)

"One need not necessarily depend on the words of the ancients, but must only think of what is really true." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"One should not differentiate good and bad on the basis of taste."  (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"People of the world cannot necessarily be considered good - let them think whatever they will." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If the heart is not empty, it will not admit truthful words." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If the right faith arises in your mind, you should train in Zen. If it does not arise, you should wait for awhile and reflect upon the fact that the Buddha Dharma did not become part of you long ago." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If you think you can become enlightened just by worshipping images and relics, this is a mistaken view. This is actually possession by the poisonous serpent of temptation." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If you would be free of greed, first you have to leave egotism behind. The best mental exercise for relinquishing egotism is contemplating impermanence." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"If you want to travel the Way of Buddhas and Zen masters, then expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"The mind has no fixed characteristics; depending on circumstances, it may turn out any way at all." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"The practice of Buddhism depends on whether your teacher is right or wrong. The potentiality of the pupil is like good material, and the teacher is like the master of art. Even if the material is good, good work will not be produced without a good artisan. On the other hand, even a crooked piece of wood will immediately reveal the skill of workmanship in the hands of a good worker. This will testify to the fact that true or false satori (enlightenment) depends on the adequacy of the teacher." (Dogen Zenji, "Gakudo Yojinshu" ["Points to Watch in Practicing the Way"], cca. 13th century)

"There is fundamentally no good or bad in the human mind; good and bad arise according to circumstances." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"To study the Self is to forget the Self." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Truth is not greater or lesser, but people are shallow or deep." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"What you think in your own mind to be good, or what people of the world think is good, is not necessarily good." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original selves." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"When you see others’ errors and you want to guide them because you think they are wrong and you feel compassion for them, you should employ tact to avoid angering them, and contrive to appear as if you were talking about something else." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

"Zazen is something which makes us want to sit in zazen." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)

Week 2022-36: Takuan - Collected Quotes

"Consider the core of the mind to be a wagon, with will-power to be carried about in it. Push it to a place where there can be failure, and there will be failure. Push it to a place where there can be success, and there will be success. But whether there is success or failure, if one entrusts himself to the straightness of this wagon of the core of the mind, he will attain right-mindedness in either case. Severing oneself from desire and being like a rock or tree, nothing will ever be achieved. Not departing from desire, but realizing a desireless right-mindedness - this is the Way." (Takuan Soho)

"Conquer the self, and you will conquer the opponent." (Takuan Soho)

"Completely forget about the mind and you will do all things well." (Takuan Soho)

"When facing a single tree, if you look at a single one of its red leaves, you will not see all the others. When the eye is not set on one leaf, and you face the tree with nothing at all in mind, any number of leaves are visible to the eye without limit. But if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there." (Takuan Soho)

"If the mind is not restricted to just one direction, it will be in all ten." (Takuan Soho)

"No doubt you see the sword about to strike you, but do not let your mind “stop” there. Have no intention to counterattack him in response to his threatening move, cherish no calculating thoughts whatsoever. You simply perceive the opponent’s move, you do not allow your mind to “stop” with it, you move on just as you are toward the opponent and make use of his attack by turning it on to himself. Then his sword meant to kill you will become your own and the weapon will fall on the opponent himself."  (Takuan Soho)

"One is not likely to achieve understanding from the explanation of another." (Takuan Soho)

"One does not divine this by impressions or knowledge." What this means is that no matter how much you try to figure or calculate by means of impressions or knowledge, it will not prove the least bit useful. Therefore, separate yourself from the discrimination of figuring things out." (Takuan Soho)

"The Buddha and all sentient beings are not two." (Takuan Soho)

"When this No-Mind has been well developed, the mind does not stop with one thing nor does it lack any one thing. It appears appropriately when facing a time of need." (Takuan Soho)

"The art of the sword consists of never being concerned with victory or defeat, with strength or weakness, of not moving one step forward, nor one step backward, or the enemy not seeing me and my not seeing the enemy. Penetrating to that which is fundamental before the separation of heaven and earth where even yin and yang cannot reach, one instantly attains proficiency in the art." (Takuan)

"The mind should be nowhere in particular." (Takuan)

"The mind must always be in the state of 'flowing', for when it stops anywhere that means the flow is interrupted and it is this interruption that is injurious to the well-being of the mind. In the case of the swordsman, it means death." (Takuan)

"When the swordsman stands against his opponent, he is not to think of the opponent, nor of himself, nor of his enemy's sword movements. He just stands there with his sword which, forgetful of all technique, is ready only to follow the dictates of the unconscious. The man has effaced himself as the wielder of the sword. When he strikes, it is not the man but the sword in the hand of the unconscious that strikes." (Takuan)

"True Self is the Self that existed before the division of heaven and earth and before one's father and mother were born. This Self is the Self within me, the birds and the beasts, the grasses and the trees and all phenomena. It is excatly what is called 'Buddha Nature'.  
This Self has no shape or form, has no birth, has no death. It is not a Self that can be seen with the aid of your present physical eye. Only the (hu)man who has received enlightenment is able to see this. The (hu)man who does see this is said to have seen into her own nature and became a Buddha. It is to use neither thought nor reasoning and to look straight ahead." (Takuan Soho)

"We must know that it is not enough just to see what the Mind is, we must put into practice all that makes it up in our daily life. We may talk about it glibly, we may write books to explain it, but that is far from being enough. However much we may talk about water and describe it quite intelligently, that does not make it real water. So with fire. Mere talking of it will not make the mouth burn. To know what they are means to experience them in actual concreteness. A book on cooking will not cure our hunger. To feel satisfied we must have actual food. So long as we do not go beyond mere talking, we are not true knowers." (Takuan Soho)

"When a person does not think, 'Where shall I put it?' the mind will extend throughout the entire body and move to any place at all. [...] The effort not to stop the mind in just one place - this is discipline. Not stopping the mind is object and essence. Put it nowhere and it will be everywhere. Even in moving the mind outside the body, if it is sent in one direction, it will be lacking in nine others. If the mind is not restricted to just one direction, it will be in all ten." (Takuan Soho)

Week 2022-35: Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - Collected Quotes

"As long as you are a beginner certain formalised meditations, or prayers may be good for you. But for a seeker of reality there is only one meditation - the rigorous refusal to harbour thoughts. To be free from thoughts is itself meditation. You begin by letting thoughts flow and watching them. The very observation slows down the mind till it stops altogether. Once the mind is quiet, keep it quiet. Don't get bored with peace, be in it, go deeper into it." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"Of course, when there is total surrender, complete relinquishment of all concern with one's past, present and future, with one's physical and spiritual security and standing, a new life dawns, full of love and beauty; then the Master is not important, for the disciple has broken the shell of self-defense. Complete self-surrender by itself is liberation." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

 "The mind creates the abyss, and the heart crosses it." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"The primary purpose of meditation is to become conscious of, and familiar with, our inner life. The ultimate purpose is to reach the source of life and consciousness." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"The real world is beyond our thoughts and ideas; we see it through the net of our desires, divided into pleasure and pain, right and wrong, inner and outer. To see the universe as it is, you must step beyond the net. It is not hard to do so, for the net is full of holes." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"The seeker is he who is in search of himself." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"There is nothing to practice. To know yourself, be yourself. To be yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that. Just be. Let your true nature emerge. Don't disturb your mind with seeking." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

There is in the body a current of energy, affection and intelligence, which guides, maintains and energizes the body. Discover that current, and hold onto it unswervingly. Be aware of the spark of life that weaves the tissues of your body and stay with it. It is the only reality that the body has. It is like looking at a burning incense stick; you see the stick and the smoke first; when you notice the fiery point, you realize it has the power to consume mountains of sticks and fill the universe with smoke. Timelessly the Self actualizes itself, without exhausting its infinite possibilities. In the incense stick simile, the stick is the body, and the smoke is the mind. As long as the mind is busy with its contortions, it does not perceive its source. The Guru comes and turns your attention to the spark within."  (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"Truth is not a reward for good behaviour, nor a prize for passing some tests. It cannot be brought about. It is the primary, the unborn, the ancient source of all that is. You are eligible because you are. You need not merit truth. It is your own. [...] Stand still, be quiet." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"Whatever happens, happens to you, by you, through you; you are the creator, enjoyer and destroyer of all you perceive."  (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"When I look within and see that I am nothing, that is wisdom. When I look without and see that I am everything, that is love. And between these two, my life turns." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"When you sit quiet and watch yourself, many things may come to the surface. Do nothing about them, don't react to them. As they have come, so will they go." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)

"Wisdom is knowing I am nothing,
 love is knowing I am everything,
and between the two my life moves." (Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj)