“In stillness by the empty window I sit in formal meditation, Navel and nose in alignment, Ears parallel with the shoulders. Moonlight floods the room;...
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2026
“A single path among ten thousand trees, A misty valley hidden among a thousand peaks. Not yet autumn, but already leaves are falling; Not much...
There is a delicious irony in the fact that Zen temples and rituals set up for the sole purpose of studying impermanence haven’t changed in...
The world is not a problem. Our thoughts about it are.
Mountains and rivers
“Before I had studied Zen for thirty years, I saw mountains as mountains, and rivers as rivers. When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge,...
“Zen begins at the point where there is nothing further to seek, nothing to be gained.” — Alan Watts
“Go as deep as you can into life, And you will be able to let go, Of even blossoms.” — Ryokan
There’s not much difference between a koan and a joke. Structurally they both wrong-foot the recipient to reveal something obvious that was hidden.
All paths lead directly here from here.
A Zen student asked: “What happens after enlightenment?” The master replied: “The washing up.”
One Zen student said, "My teacher is the best. He can go days without eating." The second said, "My teacher has so much self-control, he...
Zen has a habit of treating big metaphysical questions as trivial, while bestowing great reverence on the smallest, everyday, ordinary moments. The point is that...
“If we feel we’re becoming enlightened, that’s delusion.” — Kodo Sawaki
“Zen is not about becoming something special; it is about returning to who you actually are. It is the realisation of the self before any...
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Zen encourages you to feel whatever you’re feeling. Acknowledge whatever you’re feeling. Accept whatever you’re feeling. And allow the feelings to run their course…
“If you think that you’re on the path and that you’re going to reach some wonderful place, the truth is that you’re going to be...
Zen is everything that humans don’t do. It’s what trees and plants and all flora do. It’s what cats, dogs and all animals do. It’s...
“All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” — Blaise Pascal
“Zen is not effort. Effort is an understatement. Zen is a choice to be ordinary.” — Charlotte ‘Joko’ Beck
