Into the Brain of a Zen Master

Better to sit all night than to go to bed with a dragon.

Live every day like your hair was on fire.

If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.

When you get to the top of the mountain, keep climbing.

The mind should be as a mirror.

There is nothing infinite apart from finite things.

Everyday life is the way.

Great Faith. Great Doubt. Great Effort. – The three qualities necessary for training.

If you do not get it from yourself, Where will you go for it?

Do not permit the events of your daily life to bind you, but never withdraw yourself from them.

Where there is great doubt, there will be great awakening; small doubt, small awakening, no doubt, no awakening.

Sitting peacefully doing nothing Spring comes and the grass grows all by itself.

Everything the same; everything distinct.

Lovely snowflakes, they fall nowhere else!

Chop wood, carry water.

Possessing much knowledge is like having a thousand foot fishing line with a hook, but the fish is always an inch beyond the hook.

A noble heart never forces itself forward. Its words are as rare gems, seldom displayed and of great value.

If you meet on the way a man who knows, Don’t speak a word — Don’t keep silent!

Even a good thing isn’t as good as nothing.

This is not the Buddha, this is the Buddha.

These various activities are not relevant to the issue of birth and death; they are all “other things.”

If you can’t find it here, where will you go?

Some Native Thughts

A collection of native Americans’ thought

What the people believe is true.
Anishinabe

Each bird loves to hear himself sing.
Arapaho

It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand.
Apache

All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them.
Arapaho

Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it.
Arapaho

Before eating, always take time to thank the food.
Arapaho

When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.
Arapaho

If we wonder often, the gift of knowledge will come.
Arapaho

Most of us do not look as handsome to others as we do to ourselves.
Assiniboine

Those that lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.
Blackfoot

Life is not separate from death. It only looks that way.
Blackfoot

What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset…
Blackfoot

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, he world cries and you rejoice.
Cherokee

Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.
Cherokee

The weakness of the enemy makes our strength.
Cherokee

A good soldier is a poor scout.
Cheyenne

If a man is as wise as a serpent, he can afford to be as harmless as a dove.
Cheyenne

Our first teacher is our own heart.
Cheyenne

All who have died are equal.
Comanche

One rain does not make a crop.
Creole

Man’s law changes with his understanding of man. Only the laws of the spirit remain always the same.
Crow

Old age is not as honorable as death, but most people want it.
Crow

You already possess everything necessary to become great.
Crow

We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.
Dakota

There is no death, only a change of worlds.
Duwamish

Day and night cannot dwell together.
Duwamish

The one who tells the stories rules the world.
Hopi

Don’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts.
Hopi

Wisdom comes only when you stop looking for it and start living the life the Creator intended for you.
Hopi

The rainbow is a sign from Him who is in all things.
Hopi

Walk lightly in the spring; Mother Earth is pregnant.
Kiowa

When a man moves away from nature his heart becomes hard.
Lakota

Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance.
Lakota

If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Minquass

A good chief gives, he does not take.
Mohawk

Remember that your children are not your own, but are lent to you by the Creator.
Mohawk

Regard Heaven as your father, Earth as your Mother and all things as your Brothers and Sisters.
Native American

The soul would have no rainbow if the eye had no tears.
Native American

You can’t wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.
Navajo

A rocky vinyard does not need a prayer, but a pick ax.
Navajo

Every animal knows more than you do.
Nez Perce

White men have too many chiefs.
Nez Perce

To touch the earth is to have harmony with nature.
Oglala Sioux

When a fox walks lame, the old rabbit jumps.
Oklahoma

A starving man will eat with the wolf.
Oklahoma

Ask questions from you heart and you will be answered from the heart.
Omaha

A hungry stomach makes a short prayer.
Paiute

Do not wrong or hate your neighbor for it is not he that you wrong but yourself.
Pima

Make my enemy brave and strong, so that if defeated, I will not be ashamed.
Plains

Cherish youth, but trust old age.
Pueblo

Sharing and giving are the ways of God.
Sauk

Each person is his own judge.
Shawnee

Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
Shawnee

We are made from Mother Earth and we go back to Mother Earth.
Shenandoah

It is no longer good enough to cry peace, we must act peace, live peace and live in peace.
Shenandoah

There are many good moccasin tracks along the trail of a straight arrow.
Sioux

With all things and in all things, we are relatives.
Sioux

The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives.
Sioux

A people without a history is like the wind over buffalo grass.
Sioux

The moon is not shamed by the barking of dogs.
Southwest

Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.
tribe unknown

Listening to a liar is like drinking warm water.
tribe unknown

Listen or your tongue will keep you deaf.
tribe unknown

If a man is to do something more than human, he must have more than human powers.
tribe unknown

Even a small mouse has anger.
tribe unknown

Not every sweet root give birth to sweet grass.
tribe unknown

Man has responsiblity, not power.
Tuscarora

Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints.
Chief Seattle

When the Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear, when that happens, The Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them.
Chief Seattle

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view and demand that they respect yours.
Chief Tecumseh

Peace comes within the souls of men, when they realize their oneness with the Universe, when they realize it is really everywhere… it is within each one of us.

A very great vision is needed, and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.

Happyness

Once there was a poor man who could not even afford to buy a pair of shoes for himself. He was very sad about his situation. One day he  saw a man without legs. The he realized how better off he is.

The Tao Way

In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired.

In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.

The Perfect Gift

You’ve no idea how hard I’ve looked for a gift to bring You.
Nothing seemed right.

What’s the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the Ocean.
Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.

It’s no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.

So- I’ve brought you a mirror.

Look at yourself and remember me.

—Rumi

Enlightenment

A student once asked his teacher, “Master, what is enlightenment?”

The master replied, “When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep.”

The Present Moment

A Japanese warrior was captured by his enemies and thrown into prison. That night he was unable to sleep because he feared that the next day he would be interrogated, tortured, and executed. Then the words of his Zen master came to him, “Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now.” Heeding these words, the warrior became peaceful and fell asleep.

Questions

What is missing in this moment?

What is wrong with this moment, if you don’t think about it?

If a tree falls in a forest, and there is no one there to hear it, will it make a sound?