zen-buddhism

With passions stilled and one's nature firm, all destinies are in harmony; When the full moon of contemplation is reached you will be pure.

The essence of your mind is not born, so it will never die. It is not an existence, which is perishable. It is not an emptiness, which is a mere void. It has neither colour nor form. It enjoys no pleasures and suffers no pains.I know you are very ill. Like a good Zen student, you are facing that sickness squarely. You may not know exactly who is suffering, but question yourself: What is the essence of this mind? Think only of this. You will need no more. Covet nothing. Your end which is endless is as a snowflake dissolving in pure air.

When we attach to a problem, we make the problem worse. When we attach to a solution, we make the problem worse.

[A] book is not merely a book, it is the sun as well.

Good and bad aren't absolutes. They are beliefs, judgements, ideas based on limited knowledge as well as on the inclinations of our minds.

Zen probably won__ solve a single one of our problems. What it might do is help us relate differently to what we consider problems.

If your idea of good opposes something else, you can be sure that [it] is not absolute or certain.

[H]ow can something cease to exist that has no solid existence in the first place?

Careful! Even moonlit dewdrops, If you__e lured to watch, Are a wall before the Truth. _ Sogyo

We imagine that things come into existence, endure for a while, and then pass out of existence

To forget the self is to remember that we don't exist alone, but in relation to other people, to other creatures, to the planet, and to the universe.

Belief may serve as a useful stopgap measure in the absence of actual experience, but once you see _ [it] becomes unnecessary.

There's no rule in the end, but only the situation and the inclination of your mind

[W]e have endless opportunities to forget the self _ in planting a tree for future generations; in creating a poem, a meal, a vessel of clay;

How much does he lack himself who must have many things?

We can only be here. We can't leave. We are always here.

There's nothing you can find - _ nothing you can even imagine _ that doesn't originate, develop, or exist in relation to other things.

How can a hard and fast view of a world that is never hard and fast possibly be accurate?