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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

In the mundane, nothing is sacred. In sacredness, nothing is mundane.
DOGEN

Mundane Nothing Sacred Sacredness
Be moderate in eating and drinking. Mindful of the passing of time, engage yourself in zazen as though saving your head from fire.
DOGEN

Eat Engage Fire Head Moderate Pass People Save Saving
An ancient buddha said, “Mountains are mountains; waters are waters.” These words do not mean mountains are mountains; they mean mountains are mountains.
DOGEN

Ancient Buddha Mean Mountain Water Word
If you want to see things just as they are, then you yourself must practice just as you are.
DOGEN

Just Practice See Thing Want
If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
DOGEN

Art Expect Spiritual Truth
The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.
DOGEN

Dewdrop Moon Reflect Relaxation Sky
People like what is not true and they don’t like what is true.
DOGEN

Buddha Like People Person True
What you think in your own mind to be good, or what people of the world think is good, is not necessarily good.
DOGEN

Good Mind Necessary People Thinking
Emptiness is bound to bloom, like hundreds of grasses blossoming.
DOGEN

Blossom Bound Emptiness Grass
Let your heart go out and abide in things. Let things return and abide in your heart.
DOGEN

Abide Heart Return Speech Thing
What is reality? An icicle forming in fire.
DOGEN

Fire Form Reality
Forgetting oneself is opening oneself
DOGEN

Forget Oneself Opening Yourself
Those who see worldly life as an obstacle to Dharma see no Dharma in everyday actions. They have not yet discovered that there are no everyday actions outside of Dharma.
DOGEN

Action Buddhist Day Dharma Discover Every Everyday Obstacle Worldly Life
The recognition of the coming and going of things is a first step in training and practice.
DOGEN

Coem First Go Practice Recognition Step Training
Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.
DOGEN

Aware Enlightenment Necessary Thinking War
What is the way of the Buddha? It is to study the self. What is the study of the self? It is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to enlightened by everything in the world.
DOGEN

Buddha Forget Oneself Self Study Way World
That you carry yourself forward and experience the myriad things is delusion. That the myriad things come forward and experience themselves is awakening
DOGEN

Awakening Carry Delusion Forward Thing Yourself
There is no beginning to practice nor end to enlightenment; There is no beginning to enlightenment nor end to practice.
DOGEN

Beginning End Enlightenment No Practice
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

All Anything Archive Enlightenment Meditation Method Oneness
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

Actually Bebnefically Drop Mountain Ocean Opportunity Root Single
To be in harmony with the wholeness of things is not to have anxiety over imperfections.
DOGEN

Anxiety Harmony Imperfection Wholeness
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

Dusty Land never Place Sitting Travel Truth
When both body and mind are at peace, all things appear as they are: perfect, complete, lacking nothing.
DOGEN

Appear Body Complete Mind Peace Perfect Thing
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

Ask Cooking Entire Hidden Nothing Practice Said Two Universe Word
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

Cvain Dew Flash Lightning Lost Moment Momentary Morning
A zen master’s life is one continuous mistake.
DOGEN

Continue Life Master Mistake People
In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light.
DOGEN

Break Buddhist Clear Light Mind Reflect Wave

To start from the self and try to understand all things is delusion. To let the self be awakened by all things is enlightenment.

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To start from the self and try to understand all things is delusion. To let the self be awakened by all things is enlightenment.

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