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Meditation Seed Thoughts At death a person abandons what he construes as mine. Realizing this, the wise shouldn't incline to be devoted to mine. -- Sutta Nipata A life of Zen is to perceive at any time the beauty of the moment. Mind and body are always one; when eating, eat, and when sleeping, sleep. -- Bokuju I built my hut in a zone of human habitation, Yet near me there sounds no noise of horse or coach, Would you know how that is possible? A heart that is distant creates a wilderness around it. I pluck chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge, Then gaze long at the distant summer hills. The mountain air is fresh at the dusk of day; The flying birds two by two return. In these things there lies a deep meaning; Yet when we would express it, words suddenly fail us. -- Tao Ch'ien There are those who do not realize that one day we all must die. But those who do realize this settle their quarrels. -- Dhammapada I am never born as a body. I am not the ten senses. And I am neither intellect, nor mind nor everlasting ego. I am eternally pure self-nature without vital breath and mind. I am the witness without intellect, and I am the ever knowing self-nature. There is no doubt, whatsoever, about it. -- Ishavasya Upanishad When the Ten Thousand things are viewed in their oneness, we return to the Origin and remain where we have always been. -- Seng-Ts'an Infinite patience is the only condition for realizing the infinite. The moment this condition is fulfilled, attainment is realized. It does not come from outside; it grows from within. It is already present, but because of our impatience and restlessness, we are unable to see it. -- Koshi He is not noble who injures living beings. He is called noble because he is harmless towards all living beings. -- Dhammapada Without looking forward to tomorrow every moment, you must think only of this day and this hour. Because tomorrow is difficult and unfixed and difficult to know, you must think of following the Buddhist way while you live today. -- Dogen (1200-1253) A man is not versed in Dhamma because he speaks much. He who, after hearing a little Dhamma, realizes its truth directly and is not heedless of it, is truly versed in the Dhamma. -- Dhammapada A posture should be such that you can forget your body. What is comfort? When you forget your body, you are comfortable. When you are reminded continuously of the body, you are uncomfortable. So whether you sit in a chair or you sit on the ground, that's not the point. Be comfortable, because if you are not comfortable in the body you cannot long for other blessings which belong to deeper layers: the first layer missed, all other layers closed. If you really want to be happy, blissful, then start from the very beginning to be blissful. Comfort of the body is a basic need for anybody who is trying to reach inner ecstasies. -- Osho Know this, O good man: evil things are difficult to control. Let not greed and wickedness drag you to protracted misery. -- Dhammapada Like the empty sky it has no boundaries, Yet it is right in this place, Ever profound and clear. When you seek to know it, You cannot see it. You cannot take hold of it, But you cannot lose it. In not being able to get it, you get it. When you are silent, it speaks; When you speak, it is silent. The great gate is wide open to bestow alms, And no crowd is blocking the way. -- Cheng-tao Ke Chao Chou asked Nan Chuan, "What is the Tao?" Nan Chuan answered, "The ordinary mind is Tao." Chao Chou replied, "If you want to approach it, you will certainly miss it." "If you do not approach it, how do you know it is the Tao?" "The Tao is not a matter of knowing, nor a matter of not knowing. To know is a delusory way of thinking, and not to know is a matter of insensibility. If one can realize the Tao unmistakably, his mind will be like the great space -- vast, void, and clear. How, then can one regard this as right and that as wrong?" Do not permit the events of your daily lives to bind you, but never withdraw yourselves from them. Only by acting thus can you earn the title of a Liberated One. -- Zen Master Huang Po One who destroys life, utters lies, takes what is not given, goes to another man's wife, and is addicted to intoxicating drinks -- such a man digs up his own root even in this world. -- Dhammapada By meditation, they achieve the ultimate reality, which is unthinkable, unmanifest; the one of endless forms, the ever-auspicious, the peaceful, the immortal, the origin of the creator, the one without a beginning, a middle and an end; the only one, the non-dual, the all-pervading, the consciousness, the bliss, the formless, the wonderful. -- Kaivalya Upanishad The physical sources of happiness, such as wealth, name, fame, social position and popularity, are merely temporary sources of happiness; whereas happiness attained through the culture of mind is real and enduring. -- Sayadaw Ashin Thittila In this way and that I tried to save the old pail, since the bamboo strip was weakening and about to break, until at last the bottom fell out. No more water in the pail! No more moon in the water! -- Chiyono Difficult is life for the modest one who always seeks purity, is detached and unassuming, clean in life, and discerning. -- Dhammapada This universe, which is the same for all, has not been made by any God or man, but it has always been, is, and will be - an ever living fire, kindling itself by regular measures and going out by regular measures. The phases of fire are craving and satiety. The sun is new each day. -- Heraclitus After such painstaking study of empty-gate dharma, everything life plants in the mind has dissolved away. There’s nothing left now but that old poetry demon. A little wind or moon, and I’m chanting an idle song. -- Po Chu-I Just as rust arising from iron eats away the base from which it arises, even so, their own deeds lead transgressors to states of woe. -- Dhammapada There is no essential difference between vigorous, complex action and quiet, simple action. So long as one uses the non-discriminating ordinary mindfulness in every day living, then one would have not lived in idleness. Both vigour and quietude have their good qualities. -- Guishan At the sound of the bell in the silent night,I wake from my dream in this dreamworld of ours. Gazing at the reflection of the moon in a clear pool, I see, beyond my form, my real form. -- Kojisei He has broken the cycle, attained freedom from desire. The dried-up stream no longer flows. The cycle, broken, no longer turns. This, just this, is the end of misery. -- Udana All experiences are just tricks of the mind, all experiences are just escapes. Meditation is not an experience, it is a realization. -- Osho Silently and serenely one forgets all words; Clearly and vividly That appears before you. When you realize it, it is vast and without edges; In its Essence, one is clearly aware. Singularly reflecting is this bright awareness, Full of wonder is this pure reflection. Dew and the moon, Stars and streams, Snow on pine trees, And clouds hovering on the mountain peaks - From darkness, they all become glowingly bright; From obscurity, they all turn to resplendent light. -- Hung Chih Make an island unto yourself! Strive hard and become wise! Rid of impurities and cleansed of stain, you shall not come again to birth and decay. -- Dhammapada In emptiness, forms are born. When one becomes empty of the assumptions, inferences and judgments he has acquired over the years, he comes close to his original nature and is capable of conceiving original ideas and reacting freshly. The shadow of the bamboo sweeps the stair All night long. Yet not a mote of dust is stirred. The moon beams penetrate To the bottom of the pool, Yet in the water not a trace is left. -- Chikan Zenji Overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the liar by truth. -- Dhammapada There is no duality. Your present knowledge is due to the ego and is only relative. Relative knowledge requires a subject and an object, whereas the awareness of the Self is absolute and requires no object. -- Sri Ramana Maharshi One should give up anger, renounce pride, and overcome all fetters. Suffering never befalls him who clings not to mind and body and is detached. -- Dhammapada The great path has no gates, Thousands of roads enter it. When one passes through this gateless gate He walks freely between heaven and earth. -- Mumonkan You cannot change the universal laws. You can only be yourself, and nothing else. And it is beautiful to be yourself. Anything original has beauty, freshness, fragrance, aliveness. -- Osho Upon the clatter of a broken tile All I had learned was at once forgotten. Amending my nature is needless; Pursuing the tasks of everyday life I walk along the ancient path. I am not disheartened in the mindless void. Wherever I go I leave no footprint, For I am not within color or sound. Enlightened ones everywhere have said, "Such as this is The Attainment." -- Chikan Zenji Those who are devoted to the Dhamma made known by the Noble Ones are unsurpassed in speech, thought and action. They are established in peace, gentleness and concentration, and have reached the essence of learning and wisdom. -- Sutta Nipata I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present. If you can be always in the present, you'll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now. -- P. Coelho Some Zen students do not realize the true man in a mask because they recognize ego-soul. Ego-soul is the seed of birth and death, and foolish people call it the true man. -- The Gateless Gate To accept insecurity and commit oneself to the unknown creates a relaxing faith in the universe. The self and the rest of the universe are not separate entities but one functioning whole. Happy indeed we live, friendly amidst the hostile. Amidst hostile men we dwell free from hatred. -- Dhammapada A monk asked: When I wish to become a Buddha- what then? Joshu said: You have set yourself quite a task- haven't you? The monk said: When there is no effort- what then? Joshu said: Then you are a Buddha already. Some recluses and brahmins, so called, Are deeply attached to their own views; People who only see one side of things Engage in quarrels and disputes. -- Udana Living in the world, yet not clinging to or forming attachments for the dust of the world is the way of a true Zen student. Witnessing the good actions of another person, encourage yourself to follow their example. Hearing of the mistaken action of another person, advise yourself not to emulate it. Even though you are alone in a dark room, conduct yourself as though you were facing a noble guest. -- Zen-Getsu Without meditation there is darkness, unconsciousness, a life governed by external influences. With meditation there is light, consciousness, a life governed by inner intelligence. -- Shantidharm Easy to do are things that are bad and harmful to oneself. But exceedingly difficult to do are things that are good and beneficial. -- Dhammapada When one realizes the truth, there are no delusions concerning personal desires or self-limited ideas. One then knows there is no ego entity existing within and sees clearly the voidness of all forms as merely shadow in relation to both subjective and objective elements. If you live in this Zen, you can leave hell in your dreams of yesterday, and make your own paradise wherever you stand. -- Yoka-Daishi Ego is the greatest bondage, the only hell that I know of. -- Osho Abandoning abusive speech, he abstains from abusive speech. He speaks words that are soothing to the ear, that are affectionate, that go to the heart, that are polite, appealing and pleasing to people at large. -- Digha Nikaya Having fathomed Tao, you went to dwell, Among simple villages, Where bamboo grows thick, Opening and closing your gate alone. This isn't a mission or pilgrimage. I've come for no real reason: Just to sit out on your south terrace, And gaze at those mountains. -- Po Chu-I The Perfect Man has no self; the Holy Man has no merit; the Sage has no fame. -- Chuang Tzu One truly is the protector of oneself; who else could the protector be? With oneself fully controlled, one gains a mastery that is hard to gain. -- Dhammapada One who sees his body as unreal is a Buddha; one who comprehends his mind as illusory is a Buddha; one who realizes both body and mind as empty - what difference from the Buddhas has this person? -- Krakucchanda Buddha Self-inquiry directly leads to realization by removing the obstacles which make you think that the Self is not already realized. -- Sri Ramana Maharshi With good will for the entire cosmos, cultivate a limitless heart: Above, below, & all around, unobstructed, without hostility or hate. -- Sutta Nipata The Dharma incomparably profound and exquisite is rarely met with, even in hundreds of thousands of millions of kalpas; we are now permitted to see it, to listen to it, to accept and hold it; may we truly understand the meaning of the Tathagata's words ! One should do what one teaches others to do; if one would train others, one should be well controlled oneself. Difficult, indeed, is self-control. -- Dhammapada Many things happen as you sit. You may hear the sound of the stream. You may think of something, but your mind doesn't care. Your great mind is just sitting. Even when you are not aware of seeing, hearing, or thinking, something is going on in big mind. We observe things. Without saying "good" or "bad," we just sit. We enjoy things but have no special attachment to them. We have full appreciation of them at this time, that's all. -- Shunryu Suzuki Everything is dependent on everything else, everything is connected, nothing is separate. Therefore everything is going in the only way it can go. If people were different everything would be different. They are what they are, so everything is as it is. -- G.I. Gurdjieff If you fear pain, if you dislike pain, don't do an evil deed in open or secret. If you're doing or will do an evil deed, you won't escape pain: it will catch you even as you run away. -- Udana The problem with many things is the pre-conceived ideas we have about them. -- Shantidharm O house-builder, you are seen! You will not build this house again. For your rafters are broken and your ridgepole shattered. My mind has reached the Unconditioned; I have attained the destruction of craving. -- Dhammapada There is no such person as Buddha. Buddha is simply a Sanskrit word meaning "initiate." The Absolute is immanent in everyone's heart. This "treasure of the heart" is the only Buddha that exists. It is no use seeking Buddha outside your own nature. Contemplate the Absolute which is at the root of one's own nature. -- Bodhi Dharma Wrong is the mind that attends to externals; right is the mind that brings externals under control. -- Hyakujo Abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He takes only what is given, accepts only what is given, lives not by stealth but by means of a self that has become pure. -- Digha Nikaya When one realizes completely the Dharma-body, he sees no object. He, himself, is the source of all things, and his true nature is another name of the eternal Buddha. Material things and mental phenomena come and go like clouds in the blue sky. Greed, anger and ignorance - these three foams appear and disappear like a mirage on the ocean. -- Yoka-daishi Ta-mei Fa-ch'ang asked Ma-tsu, What is the Buddha? Master Ma answered, This very mind is the Buddha. A monk asked Ma-tsu, What is the Buddha? Master Ma answered, No mind, no Buddha. Speak not harshly to anyone, for those thus spoken to might retort. Indeed, angry speech hurts, and retaliation may overtake you. -- Dhammapada If you wish to see the Buddha, you must look into your own inner-nature; this nature is the Buddha himself. If you have not seen your own nature, what is the use of thinking of Buddha, or reciting sutras, or fasting, or keeping precepts? -- Bodhi-Dharma So you should view this fleeting world: a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream, a flash of lightning in a summer cloud, a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream. -- Zen As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, even so should one cultivate a limitless heart with regard to all beings. -- Sutta Nipata
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