Following the path of the Bodhisattva—the wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings—is a tall order. But this is exactly the type of attitude we need to work toward a better world. 

Skillful and meritorious practices work on the deep unconscious level of the mind, reorienting the psyche toward the boundless lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity that characterizes your Buddhanature. And that’s what liberates us and makes us happy in everday life, regardless of the external circumstances we may find ourselves in. 

Venerating the ancestors of all life forms returns us to the river that flows from the past into the present. 

The words you speak become the house you live in.

The only way you will ever awaken is through the silence, not through analyzation of facts. Not by sorting out good and bad, but through simple silence, letting go. Letting go of all thoughts, all the hurts, all the dogmas and concepts. Letting go of these things daily. 

All I know is a door into the dark.

Your singing-and-dancing is none other than the voice of Dharma.

Your path may be different to your family, friends, and country. But despite what they may think, it does not mean you are doing in the wrong direction. 

Just practice zazen…Sit…like a person deaf and dumb

The more faithfully you listen to the voice within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside. And only she who listens can speak.

The sacred place is not remote
no special roads lead to it.
If one proceeds where a guide has pointed,
He will find only a slippery moss-covered bridge.

Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?

Zen wants absolute freedom, even from God.

The main point of meditation is that we need to get to know ourselves: our minds, our behavior, our being. We think we know ourselves, but actually we don’t. There are all sorts of undiscovered areas of our thoughts and actions. What we find in ourselves might be quite astounding!

We all need to see that happiness, joy, and bliss come from having an appreciation of other people’s work and at the same time being content with what we have and what we are.

Zen is really just a reminder to stay alive and be awake. We tend to daydream all the time, speculating and dwelling on the past. Zen practice is about appreciating your life in this moment.

The lives of each of us, the Buddha was saying on his path, are a journey toward recognizing where we’ve been all along.

Most of life is a positive-sum game in which we can all be better off if we play nicely together. Sympathetic joy is a way in which we can share the joys of others and thereby give ourselves a lift.

When we know that to take care of one life we have to take care of all life—and that life includes what we say, how we act, what we do, and what we honor—that is the beginning of the sacred embodiment that leads to true civilization.

We cannot eliminate all of the challenges or obstacles in life—our own or anyone else’s. We can only learn to rise to the occasion and face them.