Quotes Compiled - Zen


"When the many are reduced to the one, to what is the one to be reduced?"
/ Zen Koan /


"I can only show you the door. You're the one that has to walk throught it."
"The Matirx" Zen


"We have to eat and dress every day," said the monk to Mu-chou. "How can we escape from all that?"
Mu-chou said: "We dress, we eat."
"I do not understand," said the monk.
"If you don't understand, get dressed and eat your breakfast."
/ Zen Mondo /


"No seed ever sees th flower."
/ Zen Saying /


"A monk came to Master Joshu and said: "When a man is free of all possible possessions, what would you say?"
"Throw it away!, relpied Joshu
/ Zen Mondo /


Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake up and become aware. It does not teach, it points.
/ D. T. Suzuki /


"One inch ahead i all darkness."
/ Zen Saying /


One day, the new students were coming in to interview with Chao-chu. He hould ask, "Have you been here before?" and one would answer, "No, never," and Chao-chu would say "Have a cup of tea."
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Another would answer, "Yes,I've been here," and Chao-chu would say "Have a cup of tea."
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This went on all day. Finally the Abbott couldn't watch any longer.
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"All day if someone says that haven't been here, and you would say "Have a cup of tea," and if they have been here, you say "Have a cup of tea."
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What is the meaning of this?"
"Abbott," Caho-chu said, "have a cup of tea."
/ Zen Mondo /


There are no byroads, no corssroads here. All the year round the hills are fresh and green; east or west, in whichever direction you may have a fine walk.
/ Zen Teaching /


One evening a farmer was just drifting off to sleep when he heard a noise in the orchard outside.
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Investigating, he noticed a young man from the village up in one of the trees, stealing fruit.
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Quietly the farmer went into the shed where he kept his ladder and brought it to the tree so that the thief might safely climb down and slip away unharmed.
/ Zen Story /


Without a rope, people bind themselves."
/ Zen Saying /


"Sometimes, simply by sitting, the soul collect wisdom."
/ Zen Proverb /


"A master was about to address the assembly of monks. Just then a bird in a nearby tree began to sing. The master remained silent until the bird stopped singing, and then announced that his address was finished and walked away."
/ Zen Story /


"A monk asked Chan master Pai-chang: " Who is the Buddha?"
"Who are you? answered Pai-chang.
/ Zen Humour /


"Does a falling tree make a sound if no-one is in the forest to hear it?"
~~ Zen


"Zen seven, ken three" is a samurai saying that you hear in a martial arts dojo (training hall) even today.
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It means that technical ability with the sword (ken) or any other weapon is only 30 percent responsible for your success or failure.
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The 70 percent factor (the Zen of the saying) in any battle crossing swords in kendo, or solving a problem is inside you. Inner training is devoted to cultivating that inner power.
~~ Zen