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.
DOGENOne must be deeply aware of the impermanence of the world.
More Dogen Quotes
-
-
No matter how bad a state of mind you may get into, if you keep strong and hold out, eventually the floating clouds must vanish and the withering wind must cease.
DOGEN -
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.
DOGEN -
Sitting is the gateway of truth to total liberation.
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 -
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 -
To be in harmony with the wholeness of things is not to have anxiety over imperfections.
DOGEN -
What you think in your own mind to be good, or what people of the world think is good, is not necessarily good.
DOGEN -
Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.
DOGEN -
But do not ask me where I am going, As I travel in this limitless world, Where every step I take is my home.
DOGEN -
IF YOU WOULD BE FREE OF GREED, FIRST YOU HAVE TO LEAVE EGOTISM BEHIND. THE BEST MENTAL EXERCISE FOR RELINQUISHING EGOTISM IS CONTEMPLATING IMPERMANENCE.
DOGEN -
You should study not only that you become a mother when your child is born, but also that you become a child.
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 -
Emptiness is bound to bloom, like hundreds of grasses blossoming.
DOGEN -
A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.
DOGEN -
Time is three eyes and eight elbows.
DOGEN