Learning Zen is a phenomenon of gold and dung. Before you understand it, it's like gold; after you understand it, read more

Learning Zen is a phenomenon of gold and dung. Before you understand it, it's like gold; after you understand it, it's like dung.

The awareness of our own strength makes us modest.

The awareness of our own strength makes us modest.

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world read more

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

Life is a waste of time; time is a waste of life; so why waste your time when you could read more

Life is a waste of time; time is a waste of life; so why waste your time when you could be having the time of your life?

The closest to being in control we will ever be is in that moment that we realize we're not.

The closest to being in control we will ever be is in that moment that we realize we're not.

Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... read more

Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change.

We could say that meditation doesn't have a reason or doesn't have a purpose. In this respect it's unlike almost read more

We could say that meditation doesn't have a reason or doesn't have a purpose. In this respect it's unlike almost all other things we do except perhaps making music and dancing. When we make music we don't do it in order to reach a certain point, such as the end of the composition. If that were the purpose of music then obviously the fastest players would be the best. Also, when we are dancing we are not aiming to arrive at a particular place on the floor as in a journey. When we dance, the journey itself is the point, as when we play music the playing itself is the point. And exactly the same thing is true in meditation. Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.

The tighter you squeeze, the less you have. The best leaders of all, the people know not they read more

The tighter you squeeze, the less you have. The best leaders of all, the people know not they exist. They turn to each other and say We did it ourselves. The mind that does not understand is the Buddha. There is no other. •Ma-Tsu You cannot describe it or draw it. You cannot praise it enough or perceive it. No place can be found in which to put the Original Face; it will not disappear even when the universe is destroyed. •Mumon Learning Zen is a phenomenon of gold and dung. Before you understand it, it's like gold; after you understand it, it's like dung. •Zen Saying No thought, no reflection, no analysis, no cultivation, no intention; let it settle itself. •Tilopa When you pass through, no one can pin you down, no one can call you back. •Ying-An There are no mundane things outside of Buddhism, and there is no Buddhism outside of mundane things. •Yuan-Wu The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there. •Robert M. Pirsig Man stands in his own shadow and wonders why it's dark. •Zen Proverb Sit quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.

The only thing that can save the world is the reclaiming of the awareness of the world. That's what poetry read more

The only thing that can save the world is the reclaiming of the awareness of the world. That's what poetry does.