Quotes About Zen

If silence is golden, then Zen may be called an alchemy that transforms all things into gold by purifying them in the fire of the negation of all words and letters, names and concepts, logical methods and theoretical systems...

Zen people almost never talk about hell or sin. For the real problem is ignorance, especially ignorance about our true identity.

One of the most profound truths that Mahayana Buddhism teaches is that nirvana is samsara (the troubled world). [...] The same truth is expressed most beautifully in the Christian image of the Incarnation: God descends to reascend. There can be no ascension without descent. We must realize that Zen and Christianity are not telling two different stories but one story.

The point of Zen is not to defy reason but to recognize the limitations of rationality.

Zen calls our attention to the wonders of the ordinary. There is a hidden dimension of beauty, richness, and harmony in the common world surrounding us, but we seldom take notice. Zen tries to stimulate our sensitivity to these natural wonders and hence to recover the joy in our daily lives.

While the mainstream Western mind visualizes the good and the evil as two opposite forces, each attempting to annihilate the other, the Taoists envision them as interdependent and complementary. The yin-yang is the primordial symbol for creative tension, without which life and growth are not possible, This understanding that the opposites are complementary is essential to Zen's gentle attitude toward life.

While "religious" people treat fuzziness as a liability, Zen people treat it as an asset. For this fuzziness of nature, combined with the creativity innate in the human mind, translates into opportunities for our liberation. If the world is indeterminate, then we can use our creativity to interpret it in a way that fosters inner peace and enables spiritual growth.

When was the last time you noticed the beauty of a cool breeze or the wonder of a starry sky or the vibrancy of a wild flower on the roadside? I used to have the ability to instantly appreciate the beauty of all these when I was a child, but by the time I was twenty it was almost lost. (It took a lot of Zen practice for me to regain it.) The world has not changed that much; there are still summer breezes, night skies, and wild flowers. But where has the perception gone?

Zen is a transcultural and trans-religious phenomenon. No matter where you are, you can always find it. Zen is in you.

D.T. Suzuki notes that "when Zen wants you to taste the sweetness of sugar, it will put the required article right into your mouth and no further words are said." In this sense, Zen is direct and not intermediated, concrete and not abstract, practical and not theoretical, sensual and not intellectual, down-to-earth and not otherworldly.

More than anything else, Zen represents a soulful approach to life in which one remains completely vulnerable and open to life, without God as a security blanket. There is no attempt to eliminate the basic insecurity or unpredictability of life or to solve the mysteries of existence.

In a nutshell, Zen is a poetization of life and a vivid expression of the human soul, albeit without the formality, rigidity, and superficiality associated with organized religions.

The Zen experience is what happens when you lose yourself in the moment. It feels as if the whole world stops, and you have a supreme sense of harmony and peace. But in fact, what actually stops is your ego-process. When the ego-process stops, so stop your expectations, desires, worries, and anxiety. Then you find yourself living in the present, overtaken by joy and filled with peace.

Cuando uno lo ha abandonado todo, puede decirse que le queda la contemplación del vacío.

The Zen philosopher, Basho, once wrote, 'A flute with no holes, is not a flute. A donut with no hole, is a Danish'.

If a young Steve Jobs had taken his own advice and decided to only pursue work he loved, we would probably find him today as one of the Los Altos Zen Center's most popular teachers.

Thomas had followed his passion to the Zen Mountain Monastery, believing, as many do, that the key to happiness is identifying your true calling and then chasing after it with all the courage you can muster. But as Thomas experienced that late Sunday afternoon in the oak forest, this belief is frighteningly naïve.

First there is a mountain, Then there is no mountain, Then there is. —Zen proverb

I could do this. I just had to stay cool. Zen. No punching in the face. Punching would not be Zen.

En la práctica de meditación, que lo había mantenido sobrio durante años, Richard había tratado de aprender los fundamentos zen, estar atento al momento presente, comenzar de nuevo con cada respiración, pero la habilidad de poner la mente en blanco se le escapaba. Su

From Nike, we buy victory. From Under Armour, we buy protection. From Lululemon, we buy zen. From Patagonia, we buy conservation. From BMW, we buy performance.

Anywhere which is in a forest, that's my zen place.

Whereas a lot of Buddhism concerns itself with stages of enlightenment, various precepts and moral codes, and even power structures and hierarchies, Zen is just like, 'Shut up, sit down, and observe your thoughts - oh, and by the way, what you perceive as you' doesn't actually exist.' I loved the minimalist approach of it.

I think any spiritual experience that's worthwhile is not about ego and it will humble you in some way. And also, a Zen monk once said to me, 'If you're not laughing, then you're not getting it.'