Quotes About Zen

If we analyze the character for zen, we find that it combines the radical shi (to show) with the character tan (single).

by trying to become "no-thought and no-thinking," we create the idea of "no-thought and no-thinking." This is one example of the wrong direction of zazen.

show) with the character tan (single). That is to say, the character for zen means "to show singleness of mind.

Kawajiri Hogin classifies those who sit for wrong reasons as: 1) those who sit in order to tranquilize their minds; 2) those who sit to be empty in their minds; 3) those who solve koan as if they were guessing games; 4) those who start sitting, motivated by their wish for escape from this disturbing world.

think that the essential point of Zen lies in "proof," which is variously called "right awareness of no-self," "seeing one's original self-nature," and so on.

The publication Koan Kaito Shu15 (The Collection of Answers to Koan)

When all are seated, the jikijitsu claps the taku (wooden clappers) once, followed by the four successive rings of the small metal bell called inkin at measured intervals. This is the sign of shijo, which means the beginning of samadhi or zazen. In the ensuing period of quietness, the slightest movement of our bodies, even coughing, is forbidden.

After the passage of a given length of time, the jikijitsu again rings his bell once and claps his clappers twice. Then comes a short break of about ten minutes. Sometimes during this break kinhin (meditative walking) takes place in the meditation hall.

When a number of people recite a sutra in one accord, they are told to recite it with their ears. It is good to recite the sutra in such a way that the voices of those sitting next to us enter our ears, and, passing through them, come out of our mouths by becoming our own voices. After the lecture, the testimonial teaching of the past Zen Master related to the temple or the lecturer, or Shiku Seigan Mon77 are recited by all present.

Sanzen is classified into sosan (mandatory interviews for those with koan) and dokusan (individual interviews).

Zen Outside the Way (Gedo Zen) Common Zen (Bompu Zen) Small Vehicle Zen (Shojo Zen) Great Vehicle Zen (Daijo Zen) Supreme Vehicle Zen (Saijojo Zen)

Gedo Zen as religious discipline following teachings based on a perspective outside of Buddhism.

The fifth kind of Zen, Saijojo Zen (Supreme Vehicle Zen), can also be called Nyorai Shojo Zen. Master Shumitsu said that it is training through which one has a sudden realization that one's mind is originally pure, that from the beginning there is no suffering which arises from our attachment to desire.

Accordingly, if we put it in extreme terms, all types of Zen other than Patriarchal Zen are inauthentic. However, in a positive sense, it may be said that Zen Outside the Way (Gedo Zen), Common Zen (Bompu Zen), Zen of the Mouth and Head (Koto Zen), Literary Zen (Moji Zen), Zen for Health (Kenko Zen), Zen for Medical Treatment (Ryoyo Zen), and all the rest exist within the realm of Patriarchal Zen.

the mind of nondiscriminating discrimination which Master Bankei calls the Unborn Buddha Mind. He writes, "To see and hear things without any preparation to see and hear them is called Unborn Mind.

there are large number of people—so-called believers—who misunderstand the concept of "no-thought and no-thinking" (Jpn. munen muso).

Likewise in our Zen sect, although we boast of having no words or phrases, we cannot help the profuse amount of literature because it expresses compassion or what we call "grandmotherly concern.

We are white dew drops; If we lay ourselves just as we are On the maple leaves, We are red beads.

Therefore, in Zen one awakens to one's True Self and takes firm hold of it. To give life to one's True Self sufficiently in all the affairs of daily life and to practice living as a human being while purifying the entire world is perhaps the most complete way of saying it.

Some people contend that this means the complete integration of subject and object whenever they meet. This interpretation is interesting in content, but it is not necessarily substantiated by anything in the literature of Zen.

Thinking that a koan is something to be thought about and solved objectively is out of keeping with Zen teachings.

It is said that there are as many as one thousand seven hundred koan. They are classified according to the specific styles of the different schools in which they have been employed. In our School of Tekisui, koan problems are generally classified into hosshin (The body of Dharma), kikan (dynamism), gonsen (verbal expression), nanto (difficulty in passing through), kojo (stage of refinement), and matsugo no rokan (the final gate).

Some of you may practice zazen all alone at home with this book of mine as a guide. If you do, you must be well prepared for suffering. If there is no suffering, your sitting will be futile and you will find it difficult to continue zazen.

Seeing one's true self-nature in itself is samadhi, and samadhi in itself is seeing one's true self-nature.