101 Powerful Zen Sayings and Proverbs - Buddhaimonia

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by Matt Valentine- Get email updates of new posts here

The world is its own magic.

Shunryu Suzuki

When I was first introduced to Zen, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I

was in the middle of a sort of path of self-discovery, lets call it, when Zen promptly hit

me upside the head.

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Two years before that, I started reading a book. This book largely became my life for

those two years, and I consequently ended up reading it ten times more than any other

book I had read in my entire life up until then. The book? Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

For those who dont know,Tao of Jeet Kune Dois the book Bruce Lee is most well known

for outside of his films. He wrote a lot,and after his passing at the young age of 32 his

family and students gradually released to the public various books and collections of his

notes, but none received the notoriety that the very first collection, Tao of Jeet Kune

Do, did.

Bruce Lee was nearly as much a philosopher and mystic as he was a martial artist.

And Bruce Lees philosophy on the martial arts was heavily influenced by Zen.

So much so that the first ten or fifteen pages of theTao of Jeet Kune Dois dedicated

solely to his favorite snippets from various Zen texts. And its these very same pages that

would be my first introduction to Zen.

I had read theTao of Jeet Kune Doearlier in my life and was completely lost by this first

section of the book, and likewise would be again when reading it years later. It might

have been my first somewhat introduction to Zen, but at the time I had no idea what the

heck I was reading. There was stuff like this:

Voidness is that which stands right in the middle between this

and that. The void is all-inclusive, having no opposite there

is nothing which it excludes or opposes. It is living voidbecause all forms come out of it and whoever realizes the void

is filled with life and power and the love of all human beings.

As much as I loved the martial arts, it was this first section of the book which I

considered most fascinating. I remember sitting down for long periods, contemplating

what the various snippets from this section meant.

While at the time I didnt know what most of it meant, those moments of contemplation

would later help me piece things together as I began to learn more about Zen.

You cant technically talk about Zen, or write about Zen, because true Zen cant be put

into words. Ultimately, I can only point the way.

Leading people down the path, helping them discover the truth for themselves is part of

what Buddhaimonia is about. I dont presume to be some magical guru that has special

abilities or whom you should follow because only I know the way.


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You l l f i n d t h e w a y i n w h i s p er s o f t r u t h w h i c h y o u e x p er i en c e i n y o u r ow n

ever y da y l i f e. And as you follow that trail, youll find greater peace and joy throughout

each day.

Not a sense of relief though, thats shallow, Im talking about a sense of peace that

washes over every part of you and seems to bring everything into focus, even if at first

just for a moment.

The below list of Zen quotes and Zen proverbs are bits of universalwisdom and

insight which Ive gathered over the past few years, mostly from teachers whom I have an

immense amount of respect for. People such as:

Thich Nhat Hanh

Shunryu Suzuki

Alan Watts

Dogen Zenji

Eckhart Tolle

Byron Katie

Osho

D. T. Suzuki

Rumi

Buddha

Ive amassed these from years of reading books and articles (I lovebuddhismnow.com)

and listening to a lot of audio. Sometimes it feels like Im following an invisible trail, laid

out step by step from past mystics and spiritual figures. Its like one big game ofconnecting the dots. And this is a trail that anyone can follow.

I narrowed this list down from some 250 original quotes to the essential, the ones which

held the most significance for me and which I felt would bring the most value to you. I

feel that even a single quote can have a profound effect. A quote can give us insight into

something new or confirm something which weve felt or experienced.

As with all of Zen, the below Zen quotes arent about beliefs or ideas, but universal

wisdom which you can discover in your own daily life. And Zen is just one way to these

universal truths, countless mystics and spiritual traditions have come to the very same

insights independently that perfectly echo what Zen has discovered. This is why youll

see quotes from people other than notable Zen figures, such as Rumi and Martin Luther

King Jr.

Zen i s a bo u t p o i n t i n g t o t h e u n i v er sa l ev er y d a y w i sd om a l l a r o u n d y o u ,

about getting you to experience things purely as they are, not about convincing you of

some specific way of thinking, or about stamping some specific label on something.


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Dont get caught up in thinking something is Zen or anything like that, these are simply

bits of wisdom pointing to universal truth. Treat them as such and let them guide you

towards a life of greater peace and joy.

______________________________________

If youre interested in learning how to

bring more authentic Zen spirit into your

life, then youll love my upcoming book

Living Zen.

If youd like to be notified when more

information is available, as well as get

some cool exclusive book bonuses from

here until release, fill in your name and

email below!

______________________________________

I separated the quotes and proverbs below based on a number of major sections to help

you piece together their meaning. Keep in mind though that each section is really just a

shade of the same one thing, and so youll notice that many of these can be placed

under multiple categories.

Worry less about what category these fall into and more about receiving the message


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purely as intended and youll get the most from this list.

ThePresentM om entandM indfulness

This is the real secret of life to be completely engaged with

what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of

calling it work, realize it is play.

Alan Watts

The only thing that is ultimately real about your journey is

the step that you are taking at this moment. Thats all there

ever is.

Eckhart Tolle

Wherever you are, be there totally.

Eckhart Tolle

Im here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when


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you want to get away.

Pema Chdrn

When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is

without getting entangled in it.

Eckhart Tolle

If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment

with life. That is very serious!

Thich Nhat Hanh

Practice is this life, and realization is this life, and this life is

revealed right here and now.

Maezumi Roshi

If you want to change the world, start with the next person

who comes to you in need.

B. D. Schiers

My experience is that the teachers we need most are the

people were living with right now.

Byron Katie

Guilt, regret, resentment, sadness & all forms of

nonforgiveness are caused by too much past & not enough

presence.

Eckhart Tolle

Throughout this life, you can never be certain of living long

enough to take another breath.


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Huang Po

Awareness is the greatest agent for change.

Eckhart Tolle

When you do something, you should burn yourself upcompletely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

Shunryu Suzuki

The art of living is neither careless drifting on the one hand

nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being

sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and

unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

Alan Watts

The intuitive recognition of the instant, thus reality is the

highest act of wisdom.

D.T. Suzuki

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on

which the world earth revolves slowly, evenly, without

rushing toward the future.

Thich Nhat Hanh

And when they played they really played. And when they

worked they really worked.

Dr. Seuss


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Interbeing

Preparing food is not just about yourself and others. It is

about everything!

Shunryu Suzuki

Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence

and are nothing in themselves

Nagarjuna

Nothing ever exists entirely alone. Everything is in relation to

everything else.

Buddha

Heaven and earth and I are of the same root,

The ten-thousand things and I are of one substance.

Seng-chao

It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are

all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a

single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly,


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affects all indirectly.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.

Thch Nhat Hanh

Heaven & earth & I are of the same root. Ten thousand things

& I are of one substance.

Sng-chao

Im perm anence

One must be deeply aware of the impermanence of the world.

Dogen

TrueSelfandNo-Self

The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting

with something.

Koun Yamada

I dont let go of concepts I meet them with understanding.

Then they let go of me.

Byron Katie

The Zen expression Kill the Buddha! means to kill any

concept of the Buddha as something apart from oneself.

Peter Matthiessen


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When you hear that all beings are Buddha, dont fall into the

error of thinking theres more than one Buddha.

Zen Graffiti

The self divides into ten billion distinct illuminating spirits.

Distinguish these without falling into names and

classifications.

Hongzhi

To study Buddhism is to study the self. To study the self is to

forget the self. To forget the self is to be awakened by all

things.

Dogen

Melting our attachment to self is the most powerful

medication for bringing mental and emotional imbalances in

check.

Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche

Have good trust in yourself not in the One that you think

you should be, but in the One that you are.

Maezumi Roshi

DirectExperience

My finger can point to the moon, but my finger is not the

moon. You dont have to become my finger, nor do you have to

worship my finger. You have to forget my finger, and look at

where it is pointing.


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Osho

To accept some idea of truth without experiencing it is like a

painting of a cake on paper which you cannot eat.

Suzuki Roshi

Zen has no business with ideas.

D.T. Suzuki

What is important is not the right doctrine but the attainment

of the true experience. It is giving up believing in belief.

Alan Keightley

The menu is not the meal.

Alan Watts

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

Alan Watts


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AwakeningandEverydayLife

People sleep, and when they die they wake.

Muhammad

Today, you can decide to walk in freedom. You can choose to

walk differently. You can walk as a free person, enjoying every

step.

Thich Nhat Hanh

When an ordinary man attains knowledge, he is a sage;when a sage attains understanding, he is an ordinary man.

Zen Proverb

If we dont occupy ourself with everything, then peaceful mind

will have nowhere to abide.

Shen-hui

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free:

Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the

ultimate.

Chuang

The Buddha talked about saving all beings from delusion, notconverting them to a new religion.

Buddhism Now

Let your mind wander in the pure and simple. Be one with the

infinite. Let all things take their course.


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Chuang Tzu

Let go over a cliff, die completely, and then come back to life

after that you cannot be deceived.

Zen Proverb

The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths

beyond itself.

Anais Nin

Each step along the Buddhas path to happiness requires

practising mindfulness until it becomes part of your daily life.

Henepola Gunaratana

Power over others is weakness disguised as strength. True

power is within & available to you now.

Eckhart Tolle

Body and mind dropped off.

Dogen describing enlightenment

Its not about approving or liking, but just being able to allow

the world to be the way it is without resenting, hating, or

judging it.

Buddhism Now

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be

extremely hard and strong.

Zen Proverb

It all depends on you. You can go on sleeping forever, you can


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wake up right this moment.

Osho

To understand everything is to forgive everything

Gautama Siddhartha

Any enlightenment which requires to be authenticated,

certified, recognized, congratulated, is false, or at least

incomplete.

R.H. Blyth

Self-realization is effortless. What you are trying to find is

what you already are.

Ramesh Balsekar

When the mind is perfectly clear, what is is what we want.

Byron Katie

The way out of life & death is not some special technique;

essential thing is to penetrate to the root of life & death.

Bukko

The aim of spiritual life is to awaken a joyful freedom, a

benevolent and compassionate heart in spite of everything.

Jack Kornfield

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a

miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on

water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are

engaged in a miracle which we dont even recognize: a blue


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sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a

child our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

Thch Nhat Hanh

Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this,

walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.

Bodhidharma

To follow the path, look to the master, follow the master, walk

with the master, see through the master, become the master.

Zen Proverb

Learning Zen is a phenomenon of gold & dung. Before you

learn it, its like gold; after you learn it, its like dung.

Zen Proverb

RealityandtheTrueNatureofThings


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Why is the tao so valuable? Because it is everywhere, and

everyone can use it. This is why those who seek will find.

Lao Tzu

Do not seek the truth, only cease to cherish your opinions.

Seng-tsan

Any experience of reality is indescribable!

R. D. Laing

No thought, no reflection, no analysis, no cultivation, no

intention; let it settle itself.

Tilopa

Youre never given more pain than you can handle. You

never, ever get more than you can take.

Byron Katie

As a bee gathering nectar does not harm or disturb the color

& fragrance of the flower; so do the wise move through the

world.

Buddha

Zazen is an activity that is an extension of the universe. Zazen

is not the life of an individual, its the universe thats

breathing.

Dogen

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one

dewdrop on the grass.


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Dogen

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at

and exploring itself.

Alan Watts

Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night,

we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor

between well and badly arranged constellations.

Alan Watts

Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through

our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the

witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its

glory, of its magnificence.

Alan Watts

Tao in the world is like a river flowing home to the sea.

Lao Tzu

Try to imagine what it will be like to go to sleep and never

wake up now try to imagine what it was like to wake up

having never gone to sleep.

Alan Watts

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my

tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that

this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity

itself transcending time and space?

D.T. Suzuki


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TheW ayandNon-Striving

The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of

unhappiness.

Eric Hoffer

The resistance to the unpleasant situation is the root of

suffering.

Ram Dass

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to

abandon our views about them.

Thch Nhat Hanh

If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where

else do you expect to find it?

Dogen

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so

obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a

great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something

beyond themselves.

Alan Watts

Life isnt as serious as the mind makes it out to be.

Eckhart Tolle

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods

made for fun.


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Alan Watts

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

Alan Watts

The greatest effort is not concerned with results.

Atisha

When I feel like dancing, I dance. I dont care if anyone else is

dancing or if everyone else is laughing at me. I dance.

Rachel Danson

A follower of the way has neither form nor shape, neither root

nor trunk; nor dwelling place; like a fish leaping in the water.

Rinzai Zen proverb

I cannot tell you any spiritual truth that you dont know

already. All I can do is remind you of what you have

forgotten.

Eckhart Tolle

Every being is in search of truth, but small fears go on

preventing you.

Osho

All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a

place of no-mind, from inner stillness.

Eckhart Tolle

I have lived with several Zen masters all of them cats.


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LivingZen-Com ingSoon2016

Be notified when new

information for my upcomingbook Living Zenbecomes

available. Plus, get

exclusive previews before

anyone else. Thank you for

your support!

First Name

Email Address

Send Me Updates

No spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

Powered by ConvertKit

Eckhart Tolle

______________________________________

If youre interested in learning how to

bring more authentic Zen spirit into your

life, then youll love my upcoming book

Living Zen.

If youd like to be notified when more

information is available, as well as get

some cool exclusive book bonuses from

here until release, fill in your name and

email below!

______________________________________

DidIm issanyofyourfavoriteZen-them edquotesorproverbs?Letm eknowinthecom m entsbelow.

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Reply

Matt Valentine says

February 2, 2015 at 4:47 AM

Thanks Brent!

Reply

Frank Bonavita says

February 5, 2015 at 3:57 PM

Matt I am glad that I bumped into your site..very glad.

Reply

Matt Valentine says


Thanks Frank, Im glad that youre glad.

Reply

Swier Miedema says

March 10, 2015 at 6:23 AM

What a lovely site! Just what I need right now! Maybe youll like one of my sayings:

If you can see this, you exist. If you exist, you matter. No people exist that do not matter.

Reply

Matt Valentine says

March 10, 2015 at 6:41 AM

Thank you Swier! I love it, a very reassuring saying especially for anyone questioning their worth.


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Reply

Paul says

May 9, 2015 at 2:57 AM

I heard this one which I really like: To be calm is the highest achievement of self.

Reply

Matt Valentine says

May 9, 2015 at 7:10 AM

I like it! Calmness in many difficult situations shows a high level of skill, its not easy to get to that

point.

Reply

Syreeta says

July 11, 2015 at 4:27 AM

Someone shared this one with me,

Let go, or be dragged.

Reply

Matt Valentine says

July 11, 2015 at 5:46 AM

Lol! Perfectjust perfect. Thanks for that Syreeta.

Reply

Carlota says


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July 21, 2015 at 9:00 AM

Thank you so much for bringing all this wisdom together for us!! I think my favourite is this one: A disciple

asks: Master, you say the whole universe is a transparent glass. How should I understand this? And the

master answers: The whole universe is a transparent glass. Why do you want to understand it?

Reply

Matt Valentine says

July 23, 2015 at 9:09 AM

I love that, first time hearing it! Thanks for that Carlota.

Reply

Tony says

August 28, 2015 at 8:59 PM

By saying nothing I have said it all.

Reply

Matt Valentine says

August 29, 2015 at 2:57 AM

True Zen. Thanks for that Tony.

Reply

Mansour Benn says

October 1, 2015 at 7:17 AM

thank you for gathering all this quote.

do you happen to know a quote about been natural, where by its easy for a plant or an animal to be natural

but difficult a human.i tried to find it but no success.

thank you.

M.Benn


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Reply

Matt Valentine says


Hey Mansour,

It doesnt ring a bell unfortunately. Ill do a little looking around though and see if I can find anything

like that.

Reply

Tony says


Today I am here, tomorrow I am gone.

Keep me in your thoughts and I will always be

Reply

fazalurahman says

October 17, 2015 at 9:31 PM

excellent site man ,thanksss

Reply

Matt Valentine says

October 18, 2015 at 1:29 PM

Thanks Fazal, glad you like it.

Reply

Suranjan Banerjee says



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Really astounding piece of collection. Awaiting for the release of the book

Reply

Matt Valentine says


Thank you, Suranjan.

Reply

Rob Shave says

April 6, 2016 at 11:38 AM

Sometimes, for a moment, when I stop what Im doing and look at where I am and who I am with, I know

there is nothing I would rather be doing, nowhere Id rather be, and no one I would rather be with. Since

discovering this meaning of happiness, my life has been well, happier

Reply

Matt Valentine says

April 6, 2016 at 12:30 PM

Thats a great insight Rob.

Reply

Aphoristically says

April 25, 2016 at 1:31 PM

Each passing second is an infinite possibility.

Happiness blossoms upon sharing.

Reply


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