Quotes About Balance

When the restrictions you have do not limit you, this is what we mean by practice.

Building character is like making bread—you have to mix it little by little, step by step, and moderate temperature is needed. You know yourself quite well, and you know how much temperature you need. You know exactly what you need. But if you get too excited, you will forget how much temperature is good for you, and you will lose your own way. This is very dangerous.

It is when your practice is rather greedy that you become discouraged with it.

If you want to discover the true meaning of Zen in your everyday life, you have to understand the meaning of keeping your mind on your breathing and your body in the right posture in zazen.

When everything exists within your big mind, all dualistic relationships drop away. There is no distinction between heaven and earth, man and woman, teacher and disciple. Sometimes a man bows to a woman; sometimes a woman bows to a man. Sometimes the disciple bows to the master; sometimes the master bows to the disciple... In your big mind, everything has the same value.

Do not be too interested in Zen.

It is when your practice is rather greedy that you become discouraged with it. So you should be grateful that you have a sign or warning signal to show you the weak point in your practice.

After the wand stops I see a flower falling. Because of the singing bird I find the mountain calmness.

A Zen master once said, "To go eastward one mile is to go westward one mile." This is vital freedom. We should acquire this kind of perfect freedom.

As long as you have rules, you have a chance for freedom. To try to obtain freedom without being aware of the rules means nothing.

It is necessary to remember what we have done, but we should not become attached to what we have done in some special sense.

When you sit in the full lotus position, your left foot is on your right thigh, and your right foot is on your left thigh. When we cross our legs like this, even though we have a right leg and a left leg, they have become one. The position expresses the oneness of duality: not two, and not one. This is the most important teaching: not two, and not one.

We say "inner world" or "outer world," but actually there is just one whole world.

Everything should exist in the right place, in the right way.

When you do things in the right way, at the right time, everything else will be organized.

Zazen practice and everyday activity are one thing. We call zazen everyday life, and everyday life zazen.

You know how to rest physically. You do not know how to rest mentally.

Try always to keep the right posture, not only when you practice zazen, but in all your activities.

TRANSIENCY    ââ'¬Å"We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

So try always to keep the right posture, not only when you practice zazen, but in all your activities. Take the right posture when you are driving your car, and when you are reading. If you read in a slumped position, you cannot stay awake long. Try. You will discover how important it is to keep the right posture. This is the true teaching.

When we do something with a quite simple, clear mind, we have no notion or shadows, and our activity is strong and straightforward. But when we do something with a complicated mind, in relation to other things or people, or society, our activity becomes very complex.

When we become truly ourselves, we just become a swinging door, and we are purely independent of, and at the same time, dependent upon everything. Without air, we cannot breathe.

When we become truly ourselves, we just become a swinging door, and we are purely independent of, and at the same time, dependent upon everything.

In the zazen posture, your mind and body have great power to accept things as they are, whether agreeable or disagreeable.