Students, when you want to say something, think about it three times before you say it. Speak only if your words will benefit yourselves and others. Do not speak if it brings no benefit.
DOGENWhen you walk in the mist, you get wet.
More Dogen Quotes
-
-
Truth is not far away. It is nearer than near. There is no need to attain it, since not one of your steps leads away from it.
DOGEN -
To study Buddhism is to study ourselves. To study ourselves is to forget ourselves.
DOGEN -
Do not miss the opportunity of offering even a single drop into the ocean of merit or a grain atop the mountain of the roots of beneficial activity.
DOGEN -
Zazen is an activity that is an extension of the universe. Zazen is not the life of an individual, it’s the universe that’s breathing.
DOGEN -
The true person is Not anyone in particular; But like the deep blue color Of the limitless sky, It is everyone, Everywhere in the world.
DOGEN -
Realization doesn’t destroy the individual any more than the reflection of the moon breaks a drop of water. A drop of water can reflect the whole sky.
DOGEN -
Be moderate in eating and drinking. Mindful of the passing of time, engage yourself in zazen as though saving your head from fire.
DOGEN -
I asked, “What are words?” The tenzo said, “One, two, three, four, five.” I asked again, “What is practice?” “Nothing in the entire universe is hidden.”
DOGEN -
Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools.
DOGEN -
If you want to see things just as they are, then you yourself must practice just as you are.
DOGEN -
Let your heart go out and abide in things. Let things return and abide in your heart.
DOGEN -
Something you want badly enough can always be gained. No matter how fierce the enemy, how remote the beautiful lady, or how carefully guarded the treasure, there is always a means to the goal for the earnest seeker. The unseen help of the guardian gods of heaven and earth assure fulfillment.
DOGEN -
Your body is like a dew-drop on the morning grass, your life is as brief as a flash of lightning. Momentary and vain, it is lost in a moment.
DOGEN -
The recognition of the coming and going of things is a first step in training and practice.
DOGEN -
When both body and mind are at peace, all things appear as they are: perfect, complete, lacking nothing.
DOGEN -
Refraining from all evil, not clinging to birth and death, working in deep compassion for all sentient beings, respecting those over you and pitying those below you, without any detesting or desiring, worrying or lamentation – this is what is called Buddha. Do not search beyond it.
DOGEN -
People like what is not true and they don’t like what is true.
DOGEN -
Time is three eyes and eight elbows.
DOGEN -
To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self.
DOGEN -
That the self advances and confirms the ten thousand things is called delusion; that the ten thousand things advance and confirm the self is called enlightenment.
DOGEN -
An ancient buddha said, “Mountains are mountains; waters are waters.” These words do not mean mountains are mountains; they mean mountains are mountains.
DOGEN -
A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.
DOGEN -
People who truly follow the Way would do well to conceal the fact that they are Buddhists.
DOGEN -
Do not travel to other dusty lands, forsaking your own sitting place; if you cannot find the truth where you are now, you will never find it.
DOGEN -
In the mundane, nothing is sacred. In sacredness, nothing is mundane.
DOGEN -
When you paint Spring, do not paint willows, plums, peaches, or apricots – just paint Spring.
DOGEN