Yet you must not cling to the words of the old sages either; they, too, may not be right. Even if you believe them, you should be alert so that, in the event that something superior comes along, you may follow that.
DOGENDo not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself. Your body and mind will become clear and you will realize the unity of all things.
More Dogen Quotes
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Cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words, and following after speech.
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 -
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 -
Meditation is not a way to enlightenment, Nor is it a method of achieving anything at all. It is peace itself. It is the actualization of wisdom, The ultimate truth of the oneness of all things.
DOGEN -
The coming and going of birth and death is a painting. Unsurpassed enlightenment is a painting. The entire phenomenal universe and the empty sky are nothing but a painting.
DOGEN -
Those who seek the easy way do not seek the true way.
DOGEN -
People who truly follow the Way would do well to conceal the fact that they are Buddhists.
DOGEN -
If you want to do a certain thing, you first have to be a certain person. Once you become that certain person, you will not care anymore about doing that certain thing.
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 -
Do not doubt that mountains walk simply because they may not appear to walk like humans.
DOGEN -
You should study not only that you become a mother when your child is born, but also that you become a child.
DOGEN -
In the stream, Rushing past To the dusty world, My fleeting form Casts no reflection.
DOGEN -
I haven’t got any Buddhism. I live by letting things happen.
DOGEN -
To start from the self and try to understand all things is delusion. To let the self be awakened by all things is 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