Quotes About Meditation

After some years we will die. If we just think that it is the end of our life, this will be the wrong understanding. But, on the other hand, if we think that we do not die, this is also wrong. We die, and we do not die. This is the right understanding.

When you feel disagreeable it is better for you to sit. There is no other way to accept your problem and work on it.

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

Zen activity is activity which is completely burned out, with nothing remaining but ashes. This is the goal of our practice. That is what Dogen meant when he said, "Ashes do not come back to firewood.

Our Soto way puts an emphasis on shikan taza , or "just sitting." Actually we do not have any particular name for our practice; when we practice zazen we just practice it, and whether we find joy in our practice or not, we just do it. Even though we are sleepy, and we are tired of practicing zazen, of repeating the same thing day after day; even so, we continue our practice. Whether or not someone encourages our practice, we just do it.

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.

Those who can sit perfectly physically usually take more time to obtain the true way of Zen, the actual feeling of Zen, the marrow of Zen.

Bodhidharma said, "In order to see a fish you must watch the water.

are aware of this movement. You should not be absent-minded. But to be aware of the movement does not mean to be aware of your small self, but rather of your universal nature

In other restless positions you have no power to accept your difficulties, but in the zazen posture which you have acquired by long, hard practice, your mind and body have great power to accept things as they are, whether they are agreeable or disagreeable.

In your practice you should accept everything as it is, giving to each thing the same respect given to a Buddha.

But as long as you think you are practicing zazen for the sake of something, that is not true practice.

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

When we practice zazen we just practice zazen, without any gaining idea. When we talk about something we just talk about something, ...without trying to express some intellectual, one-sided idea. And we listen without trying to figure or some intellectual understanding, without trying to understand from just a one-sided view.

So when you practice zazen, your mind should be concentrated on your breathing. This kind of activity is the fundamental activity of the universal being. Without this experience, this practice, it is impossible to attain absolute freedom.

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

the four noble truths: that there is suffering, that it has an origin, that there is a cessation of suffering, and that there is a path to that cessation.

The Mirror may have many uses however sooner or later one uses it for introspection!!!!

writing poetry is like prayer, and prayer isn't something you have to share with other people.

Maybe all the secrets of life were written on the surface of leaves, waiting to be translated. If I touched them long enough, I might be given some information no one else had.

Talking to yourself is the last subterfuge.

Ho pensato che se tu avessi parlato con Arseni, io ti avrei certo ucciso, ecco Ernestina. Ma con una calma grande, l'ho pensato, forse, neanche di questo mondo, devi credermi. Ho pensato al silenzio degli alberi, dell'acqua, e avrei voluto che anche tu fossi tutta silenzio, come loro...

Since there is no telling in advance where it may lead, reflection can be seen as dangerous.

Winter is for dreaming