Quotes About Practice

Do as well as you possibly can. That's Buddhist morality.

We live forever by practicing the Buddha Way right now. If we wind up being reborn after we pass from this life, that's fine. If not, that's okay too.

When I teach zazen I often tell people that it's kind of like a yoga class where there is only one posture and you hold it for a very long time.

Buddhism started not when Shakyamuni had his great revelation by himself. Lots of people had done that before. It began when he made his first efforts to transform that into a communal practice. Buddhism, then, is not something you do by yourself.

The life of a Zen master is eating cornflakes and doing the dishes. From the distant past up till today, that's what the masters have all taught.

You can do zazen by yourself. You do Zen Buddhism with other people.

Buddhism is a philosophy about just doing things bit by bit until the work is done. Ah, but the work is never really done. That's the beauty of it. You'll be doing it all your life, and you will never stop improving at it

When you do zazen, you're not trying to achieve a totally empty mind. That would be impossible. But you are trying to avoid the deliberate habitual manipulation of thoughts and images we usually engage in.

I never entered a monastery as a full-time live-in monk, which many people consider the only way to practice what D?gen preached. But this would ignore the fact that D?gen taught a number of lay students throughout his life and, indeed, recommended zazen as a daily practice not only for those who live in monasteries but also to anyone interested in self-discovery.

If the mind of a practitioner often tires and quits, that is like twirling a stick to start a fire and resting before it gets hot.

The truth is everywhere all around us, but if we don't practice, it doesn't show itself and we can't experience it.

In zazen we practice the oneness of reality.

Unless you completely devote yourself to one practice, you'll never really master it.

Zazen is a physical practice as much as it a mental one.

People always get worried about whether they're doing zazen right. But basically if you're doing it at all, you're probably doing it right — even if your thoughts won't stop, even if you're sleepy or irritable, even if it just feels boring.

You do not become a Buddha by having some magical, mystical experience that confers Buddhahood on you, after which you can just slack off for the rest of your life. Buddhahood is something fragile and precious that must be cared for and maintained. It's not automatic, and it's not easy.

To me Zen is a communal practice of individual deep inquiry.

You tried to help the people of the market. You mostly failed. This is life. The longer you live, the more you fail. Failure is the mark of a life well lived. In turn, the only way to live without failure is to be of no use to anyone. Trust me, I've practiced

Every man had to die. He'd always found it odd that so many died when they were old, as logic said that was the point in their lives when they'd had the most practice not dying.

Of course I am," Wax said. "This is my second marriage. I'm an old hand at the practice by now." Wayne grinned. "Oh, is that how it works? 'Cuz in my experience, marryin' is the one thing people seem to get worse at the more they do it. Well, that and bein' alive.

Thank you. For being willing to talk. For not turning me in. For... being you.' 'I'm pretty good at being me,' I said. 'I've had all these years to practice--I hardly ever get it wrong these days.

What wasdat, sir? What wazzat sir? What wassat, sir?" "Wayne, what are you babbling about?" Waxillium asked. "Practicing my pretzel guy," Wayne said. "He had a great accent..." Waxillium glanced at him. "That hat looks ridiculous." "Fortunately, I can change hats," Wayne said in the pretzel-guy accent, "while you, sir, are stuck with that face.

You…can ride a bike, can't you?" "Sure I can," I said, getting onto one of the squeaky things. "At least I used to be able to. Haven't done it in years, but it's like riding a bike, right?" "Technically, yes.

He'd always found it odd that so many died when they were old, as logic said that was the point in their lives when they'd had the most practice not dying. He