Zen Quotes: top 100 famous quotes about Zen

Zen Quotes & Sayings

Happy to read and share the best inspirational Zen quotes, sayings and quotations on Wise Famous Quotes.

Zen has nothing to teach us in the way of intellectual analysis; nor has it any set doctrines which are imposed on its followers for acceptance. — D.T. Suzuki

Not to be bound by rules, but to be creating one's own rules-this is the kind of life which Zen is trying to have us live. — D.T. Suzuki

With'n these ribs is / a City of Luminous / all thanks t'you. — Evy Zen

Perfection itself is not the ultimate goal
but the ultimate condition of life. — Eric Micha'el Leventhal

How much does he lack himself who must have many things? — Sen No Rikyu

There's a Zen to acting, by being in the moment. That's where the power is. — Christine Ebersole

You will bring yourself the suffering you need to bring yourself so that you may awaken. — T. Scott McLeod

Zen is to have the heart and soul of a little child. — Takuan Soho

We have all sorts of stories about heaven and hell, about oblivion and nothingness, about 'coming back,' and so on. But they are all stories. — Steve Hagen

Zen is the purest of meditations: just sit silently, doing nothing. — Osho

This is Zen", she said. "No flaw, no moment's hesitation. A window onto grace. — Janet Fitch

A fool sees himself as another, but a wise man sees others as himself. — Dogen

Prunella took to the ballrooms of London in the spirit of ruthless calculation of a general entering a battlefield. — Zen Cho

The nimble of mind long for the challenge of new discoveries. Weary minds cling to what is already known. — K. Lee Lerner

Shall you live authentically who you are or will you spend your allotted living the life of someone you imagine your self to be? — Earl R. Smith II

Zen cuts straight through the Quidditch match in progress and almost gets taken down by a Beater hurling a Nerf quaffle right at his machopartes. — Megan McCafferty

As I naturally go through a full range of emotions in my life, I mustn't feel ashamed for feeling lost, for it is honest and human to feel such. — Forrest Curran

Don't seek the truth; just drop your opinions. — Anthony

No snow flake ever falls in the wrong place — Zen

The thinking brain influences the body's responses and it makes a neat little loop. — Brad Warner

For eternally and always there is only now, one and the same now; the present is the only thing that has no end. — Alan W. Watts

A time of uncertainty, of not knowing exactly where we're headed, or what kind of choice to make is a Zen moment. — Brenda Shoshanna

Your immediate experience is Tantric Zen. How aware are you of your immediate experience? - Probably not that aware. — Frederick Lenz

The more you look, the more you will see. — Roger Tory Peterson

I guess Zen is a day like this when you are part of the air and remember things — Stephen Chbosky

Zen is the fastest method I know of, aside from mysticism, of dissolving the fixations people have about spiritual practice and themselves. — Frederick Lenz

One has to adopt a sort of Zen calm, in which you know you wrote the best book that you could at the time. — Daniel Handler

When we allow ourselves to be authentically free, it raises our vibration. — Alaric Hutchinson

No praise, no blame. Just so. — Isaac Marion

Zen teaches that once we can open up to the inevitability of our demise, we can begin to transform that situation and lighten up about it. — Allen Klein

The light is already there. In Zen Buddhism there's a little speck of dust on the mirror, and that's us. — Frederick Lenz

Life is full of highs and lows. We need them both to grow to our fullest potential. Just hang on tight & enjoy the ride. — Dawn Gluskin

As the old Zen saying reminds us, the finger pointing at the moon is not the moon. — Helen Palmer Geisel

The whole point of Zen is to suspend the rules we have superimposed on things and to see the world as it is — Alan Watts

To "know" reality you cannot stand outside it and define it; you must enter into it, be it, and feel it. — Alan W. Watts

Every man possesses the Buddha-nature. Do not demean yourselves. — Dogen

You worry yourself unnecessarily. Put the thought of hitting right out of your mind! — Eugen Herrigel

Life is eternal game, there are no rules. Indulge yourself. — Osh Marty

Zen is Tantric Buddhism, Vajrayana is tantric Buddhism - these are various forms of it. Tantric Buddhism simply means cutting to the chase. — Frederick Lenz

The renowned seventh-century Zen master Seng-tsan taught that true freedom is being without anxiety about imperfection. — Tara Brach

Any good athletic is always in a state of perpetual training, as is the Zen student. — Frederick Lenz

But for the first time, I had a religious identity. I had come home. And so I called myself a Zen Buddhist at the age of 18. — M. Scott Peck

It is very possible to acknowledge another person's concerns without entering into their vibration. — Alaric Hutchinson

Zen has lost its zip, if you will, or its nothingness and has become ritualistic Its established in monastaries with strict codes of koan study. — Frederick Lenz

When mind and action are separate, zen is lost. We keep the two in sync by paying attention. — Philip Toshio Sudo

She trailed behind Baba and Jiji as they left the palace, nightingales singing a sad farewell. — Linda Gerber

A Zen master once said, "To go eastward one mile is to go westward one mile." This is vital freedom. We should acquire this kind of perfect freedom. — Shunryu Suzuki

The son needs the father to have access to his source, and the father needs the son to have access to the future and the infinite. — Thich Nhat Hanh

Tantric Zen is more suited for this age that we live in. It give you rules, but in a gentle way. It's not as demanding. — Frederick Lenz

There isn't a Zen zone on this side of the planet that could calm me down. — Summer Lane

To remain caught up in ideas and words about Zen is, as the old masters say, to stink of Zen. — Alan Watts

Zen insight is not our awareness, but Being's awareness of itself in us. — Thomas Merton

Zen phrase says The instant you speak about a thing you miss the mark. — Fritjof Capra

Zen is a special transmission outside the Canonical Scriptures; it does not depend upon texts. — Robert Linssen

I'm relaxed, Belk. I call it Zen and the art of not giving a shit. — Michael Connelly

Zen is consciousness unstructured by particular form or particular system, a trans-cultural, trans-religious, transformed consciousness. — Thomas Merton

The whole zen attitude is to bring to your notice the fact that there is no effort to be made. The zen attitude is that of effortlessness. — Rajneesh

The quality of our lives is determined by the focus of our attention. — Cheri Huber

Old age and death are in the natural course of things. There is nothing a doctor can do about them. — Muso Soseki

HELLO! Look at me. HELLO! I am so ZEN. This is BLOOD. This is NOTHING. Hello. Everything is nothing, and it's so cool to be ENLIGHTENED. Like me. — Chuck Palahniuk

Maybe it's something which can't be defined," Enso Roshi says. "Maybe it's a question, to be lived. — T. Scott McLeod

We can only be here. We can't leave. We are always here. — Steve Hagen

You are having a baby,' he said.

'I certainly hope it turns out to be a baby,' I agreed. — Zen Cho

Baseball is one of the most beautiful games. It is. It is a very Zen-like game. — Jim Jarmusch

Once upon a time,
there was a Zen sign
at every small railway crossing in America

Stop. Look. And listen. — Dick Allen

Nothing divides one so much as thought. — R.H. Blyth

Through transcendence of duality, we foster greater unity in our lives, which brings about inner peace and the sprouting of unconditional LOVE. — Alaric Hutchinson

Zen is the complete absence of belief. Zen is the complete lack of authority. — Brad Warner

Zen is discipline - the discipline of living life, the discipline of taking a breath, the discipline of not knowing and not trying to know. — Frederick Lenz

Zen approaches it from the practical side of life-that is, to work out Enlightenment in life itself. — D.T. Suzuki

Tantric Zen is a state of mind — Frederick Lenz

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes. — Alan W. Watts

In Tantric Zen you can be humorous and make fun of anything or you can be very serious. — Frederick Lenz

Tantric Zen leads to illumination and fun right here and now, which is why I like it. — Frederick Lenz

There is a classic Zen saying that a wave cannot be separated from the ocean, nor can the ocean be separated from a wave. — David Levy

Zen is the "spirit of the valley," not the mountaintop. — Robert M. Pirsig

There are few times that I feel more at peace, more in tune, more Zen, if you will, than when I force myself to unplug. — Harlan Coben

When mountain-climbing is made too easy, the spiritual effect the mountain exercises vanishes into the air. — D.T. Suzuki

Letting go takes a lot of courage sometimes. But once you let go, happiness comes very quickly. You won't have to go around search for it. — Thich Nhat Hanh

This is the Zen approach: nothing is there to be done. There is nothing to do. One has just to be. Have a rest and be ordinary and be natural. — Rajneesh

Be aware of the type of humor you use in your daily life. Just because people are laughing doesn't mean it is creating positive vibes. — Alaric Hutchinson

For me, whenever I'm physical it spins my mind and whenever there's a lot going on I put my gloves on or I wrestle somebody and I feel zen. — Steven R. McQueen

Not to get all Zen on you, but maybe you should love yourself more. — Susan Elizabeth Phillips

When other sects speak well of Zen, the first thing that they praise is its poverty. — Dogen

I stole this from Zen Master Suzuki Roshi: If it's not paradoxical it's not true! — C.B. Murphy

In Zen we do everything perfectly. We feel that our outer actions are a reflection of our inner state. We call it mindfulness. — Frederick Lenz

A point of perspection dances in the balance of the seer's vision. — Zen Benefiel

Zen movement is a meditative practice. — Bryant McGill

Here it is ... your moment of zen. — Jon Stewart

To enter the Buddha Way is to stop discriminating between good and evil and to cast aside the mind that says this is good and that is bad. — Dogen

Our goal isn't contentment in and of itself. We're not after a mystical state of Zen. Our goal is to be content for the glory and honor of God. — Stephen Altrogge

The Zen master can see precisely what it will take to cause your awareness to become free. But the Zen master can't do it for you. — Frederick Lenz

We die, he said.
We die, I said. And kn owing this how do we live?
Knowing this, we live.
We live. — Alan Spence

A thief running away like mad from a ferocious watch-dog may be a splendid example of Zen. — Reginald Horace Blyth

Zen is all about self-study/knowledge and self-help! — Mika.

I am a Zen Buddhist - but that is not to be thought of as a religion in — Howard Fast

In the mind of the beginner, all things are possible, But in the mind of the expert, only a few. Zen Master Suzuki-Roshi — Barbara L. Jordan

When angry, count to Zen. — Leonard Scheff

I'm not a dogmatic Christian and I don't believe in the Bible literally, but I realized that Jesus is basically a very Zen dude. — Weyes Blood

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few — Shunryu Suzuki