Dogen Quotes - Page 2

No matter how bad a state of mind you may get into, if you keep strong and hold out, eventually the floating clouds must vanish and the withering wind must cease.

People like what is not true and they don't like what is true.

A zen master's life is one continuous mistake.

One must be deeply aware of the impermanence of the world.

Just practice good, do good for others, without thinking of making yourself known so that you may gain reward. Really bring benefit to others, gaining nothing for yourself. This is the primary requisite for breaking free of attachments to the Self.

In the mundane, nothing is sacred. In sacredness, nothing is mundane.

If you want to travel the Way of Buddhas and Zen masters, then expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing.

Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools.

To escape from the world means that one's mind is not concerned with the opinions of the world.

Let your heart go out and abide in things. Let things return and abide in your heart.

Do not travel to other dusty lands, forsaking your own sitting place; if you cannot find the truth where you are now, you will never find it.

Practice and enlightenment are not two.

There is no beginning to practice nor end to enlightenment; There is no beginning to enlightenment nor end to practice.

That the self advances and confirms the ten thousand things is called delusion; that the ten thousand things advance and confirm the self is called enlightenment.

There is a simple way to become buddha: When you refrain from unwholesome actions, are not attached to birth and death, and are compassionate toward all sentient beings, respectful to seniors and kind to juniors, not excluding or desiring anything, with no designing thoughts or worries, you will be called a buddha. Do not seek anything else.

I haven't got any Buddhism. I live by letting things happen.

What is reality? An icicle forming in fire.

Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.

If he cannot stop the mind that seeks after fame and profit, he will spend his life without finding peace.

When one first seeks the truth, one separates oneself from it.

Students, when you want to say something, think about it three times before you say it. Speak only if your words will benefit yourselves and others. Do not speak if it brings no benefit.

In the stream, Rushing past To the dusty world, My fleeting form Casts no reflection.

If you want to do a certain thing, you first have to be a certain person. Once you become that certain person, you will not care anymore about doing that certain thing.

Coming, going, the waterbirds, don't leave a trace, don't follow a path.

Cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words, and following after speech.