Top 11 Quotes by Kodo Sawaki

No matter how many years you sit doing zazen, you will never become anything special.

No matter how many years you sit doing zazen, you will never become anything special.

Honesty, Years, Special

Heaven and Earth give themselves. Air, water, plants, animals, and humans give themselves to each other. It is in this giving-themselves-to-each-other that we actually live. Whether you appreciate it or not, it is true.

Kodo Sawaki

Animal, Air, Water

Gain is delusion; loss is enlightenment.

Kodo Sawaki

Loss, Enlightenment, Gains

To be born as a human being is a rare thing, something to be grateful for. But being born as a human being is worthless if you spend your whole life in a mental hospital. It is worthless if you worry about not having money. It is worthless if you become neurotic because you cannot get a prestigious job. It is worthless if you weep because you lose your girlfriend.

Kodo Sawaki

Girlfriend, Jobs, Grateful

You don’t seek the way. The way seeks you.

Kodo Sawaki

Way

Religion means living your own life, completely fresh and new, without being taken in by anyone.

Kodo Sawaki

Inspirational, Life, Taken

"Zen ni kike : Sawaki kodo roshi no kotoba". Book by Kodo Sawaki, Munenori Kushiya,

You can't even trade a single fart with the next guy. Each and every one of us has to live out his own life. Don't waste time thinking about who's most talented.

Kodo Sawaki

Thinking, Guy, Waste

"Zen ni kike (To you)" by Kodo Sawaki (Tokyo: Daihorinkaku), 1987.

We stop the one who can't cease from seeking things outside, and practice with our bodies with a posture that seeks absolutely nothing. This is zazen.

Kodo Sawaki

Practice, Body, Posture

Complete Collection of Sawaki Kodo, vol. 15, p. 336, 1966.