1. Zen is not some kind of excitement, but merely concentration on our usual everyday routine. We sometimes come to spiritual practice looking for drama. For visions, for ecstatic states, for some experience that will confirm we are finally on the right path. Suzuki quietly lets the air out of this expectation. Zen is not … Read more
1. To live in the realm of Buddha nature means to die as a small being, moment after moment. — Shunryu Suzuki What Suzuki calls the small being is the defended, self-protecting, reputation-managing self we carry around and work so hard to maintain. He is not asking us to destroy it. He is pointing out … Read more
1. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few. — Shunryu Suzuki Expertise is extraordinarily useful. But it also builds walls. The more certain we become about how things are, the harder it becomes to see how things could be. A child in front of a pile … Read more
1. Impermanence is itself Buddha nature — Dōgen Zenji We resist impermanence with tremendous energy. We photograph what we love, we try to freeze it, preserve it, hold onto it just a little longer. Dogen offers a radical reframe. The very fact that nothing lasts is not the tragedy. It is the teaching. It is … Read more
1. To be enlightened by all things is to remove the barrier between self and other. — Dōgen Zenji Enlightenment in Dogen’s world is not a private achievement, a gold medal you earn for enough meditation hours. It is what happens when the wall between you and everything else becomes transparent. When you can feel … Read more
1. To study the self is to forget the self. — Dōgen Zenji This is one of the most paradoxical and profound lines in all of Zen literature. Dogen is not suggesting we stop caring about ourselves or abandon self-reflection. He is pointing to something that happens when we look deeply and honestly enough inward. … Read more
1. When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you do not blame the lettuce. — Thích Nhất Hạnh We are remarkably patient with plants and remarkably impatient with people. A gardener does not curse the seed that struggles. She looks at the conditions. Is there enough water? Enough light? Enough care? Thich … Read more
1. Our own life has to be our message. — Thích Nhất Hạnh Words without action are just decoration. Thich Nhat Hanh lived this teaching so completely that his very presence became the lesson. He is reminding us here that the most powerful thing we will ever do is not what we say or post … Read more
1. The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments. — Thích Nhất Hạnh We spend so much of our lives waiting. Waiting for the weekend, waiting for things to get better, waiting for the right moment to finally feel alive. But Thich Nhat Hanh gently … Read more
1. Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well. — Buddha Every chapter, however painful, eventually closes. Every storm, however fierce, eventually passes. If you are carrying something heavy right now, this truth is not meant to dismiss your pain. It is meant to whisper … Read more