A few of my favorite Zen Quotes which capture the depth of Spiritual Awakening. If you have any favorite quotes, please feel free to share in the comments section.
“Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.” Zenrin Kushû
”I have not heard of a single Buddha, past or present,who has been enlightened by sacred prayers and scriptures.”- Bassui
Before I had studied Zen for thirty years, I saw mountains as mountains, and waters as waters. When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains, and waters are not waters. But now that I have got its very substance I am at rest. For it’s just that I see mountains once again as mountains, and waters once again as water.- Ch’uan Teng Lu
What is this mind?
Who is hearing these sounds?
Do not mistake any state for
Self-realization, but continue
To ask yourself even more intensely,
What is it that hears?- Bassui
However deep your Knowledge of the scriptures,
It is no more than a strand of hair In the vastness of space;
However important appears Your worldly experience,
It is but a drop of water in a deep ravine. –Tokusan
All sentient beings are essentially Buddhas.
As with water and ice, there is no ice without water;
apart from sentient beings, there are no Buddhas.
Not knowing how close the truth is,
we seek it far away –what a pity! Hakuin
I would rather sink to the bottom of the sea for endless eons than seek liberation through all the saints of the universe. Shih-t’ou
“It is present everywhere.
There is nothing it does not contain.
However only those who have previously
planted wisdom – seeds will be able
to continuously see it.”
– Dogen
I’m in it, everywhere. What a miracle!
Trees, lakes, clouds, Even dust. – Ikkyu
My legacy- What will it be?
Flowers in spring, The cuckoo in summer,
And the crimson maples Of autumn …
Ryokan
In this way and that I have 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’s enlightenment poem
“Well versed in the Buddha Way, I go the non-Way. Without abandoning my ordinary person’s affairs.
The conditioned and name-and-form, all are flowers in the sky.
Nameless and formless, I leave birth-and death.” Pang Yun, Two Zen Classics
“Clambering up the Cold Mountain path,
The Cold Mountain trail goes on and on:
The long gorge choked with scree and boulders,
The wide creek, the mist-blurred grass.
The moss is slippery, though there’s been no rain
The pine sings, but there’s no wind.
Who can leap the world’s ties
And sit with me among the white clouds?”
Cold Mountain Poems, by Han Shan
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him?”
Zhuangzi”
“Men of the world who value the Way all turn to books. But books are nothing more than words. Words have value; what is of value in words is meaning. Meaning has something it is pursuing, but the thing that it is pursuing cannot be put into words and handed down. The world values words and hands down books but, though the world values them, I do not think them worth valuing. What the world takes to be values is not real value.”
― The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu
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