Zen Quotes

We take refuge in pride because we are afraid to tell the truth to ourselves.
- Kakuzo Okakura


"This is my child, this is my wealth": such thoughts are the preoccupations of fools. If we are unable to own even ourselves, why make such claims?
- Buddha


When facing a single tree, if you look at a single one of its red leaves, you will not see all the others. When the eye is not set on one leaf, and you face the tree with nothing at all in mind, any number of leaves are visible to the eye without limit. But if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there.
- Takuan Soto



Simplicity before understanding is simplistic; simplicity after understanding is simple.
- Edward De Bono


A good rest is half the work.
- Yugoslav proverb


As a bee gathering nectar does not harm or disturb the colour and fragrance of the flower; so do the wise move through the world.
- Buddha


Dwell not on the faults and shortcomings of others; instead, seek clarity about your own.
- Buddha


Observe what is with undivided attention.
- Bruce Lee



Their minds aren’t filled with all questions and answers, they just have one thought and they concentrate on that.
- A nine year old Irish girl talking about dolphins



Heaven and earth are impartial,
They allow things to die.
- Lao Tzu


Eating – simply eat, be with it.
Walking – simply walk, be there.
Don’t go ahead, don’t jump here and there.
Mind always goes ahead or lags behind.
Remain with the moment.
- Osho


Emptiness is infact form when we forget the self. There's nothing in the universe *other* than ourself. Nothing to compare, name, or identify. When it's the only  thing there is, how can we talk about it??
- Taizan Maezumi


If you put your conditioned intellect to rest for a long time, suddenly it will be like the bottom fallin out of a bucket -- then you will naturally be happy and at peace.
- Yaunwu


If you are in the future, then ego seems to be very substantial. If you are in the present the ego is a mirage, it starts disappearing.
- Osho


If you understand, things are just as they are... If you do not understand, things are just as they are....
- Zen Saying


A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it
- Dogen Zenji


Ten thousand years are one moment, one moment is ten thousand years. If you want to become acquainted with direct perception, it is before mention is made.
- Blue Cliff Record


We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.
- Einstein


I'd like to offer something to help you but in the zen school we don't have a single thing!
- Ikkyu


Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it. Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.
- The Buddha


One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand on the battlefield.
- The Buddha


Just live that life. It doesn't matter whether it is life or hell, life of the hungry ghost, life of the animal, it's okay; just live that life, see. And as a matter of fact no other way. Where you stand, where you are, that's what your life is right there, regardless of how painful it is or how enjoyable it is. That's what it is.
- Taizan Maezumi