Zen Sayings and Quotes
Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old zen quotes, zen sayings, and zen proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.
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Zen teaches that if we can open up to the inevitability of our demise, we can begin to transform and lighten up about it.
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We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us.
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The way out is through the door. Why is it that no one will use this method?
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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.
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If you have inner peace, nobody can force you to be a slave to the outer reality.
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A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
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The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
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I'm here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away.
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Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.
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Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.
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Recognize the ego for what it is: a collective dysfunction, the insanity of the human mind.
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Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.
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To study Buddhism is to study ourselves. To study ourselves is to forget ourselves.
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In the stillness of the mind I saw myself as I am - unbound.
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Guilt, regret, resentment, sadness & all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past & not enough presence.
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Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.
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Zen is not an art, it's not a religion. It's a realisation.
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You should study not only that you become a mother when your child is born, but also that you become a child.
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Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.
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Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.
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What was never lost can never be found.
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Throughout this life, you can never be certain of living long enough to take another breath.
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Life is a journey. Time is a river. The door is ajar.
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One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand on the battlefield.
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Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.
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Practice is this life, and realization is this life, and this life is revealed right here and now.
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Only the hand that erases can write the true thing.
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Meditation is the ultimate mobile device; you can use it anywhere, anytime, unobtrusively.
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Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.
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I come to realize that mind is no other than mountains and rivers and the great wide earth, the sun and the moon and stars.
