Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
If you think Zen is something lofty and esoteric, the master will give you a shout or slap for an answer. If you think it is abstract, you’ll be told it’s three pounds of flax or the oak tree in the garden. If you think it is beyond words and abstractions, the master may quote the sutras or a poem by Han Shan. If you think Zen is nothing but our ev
... See moreBarry Magid • Ending the Pursuit of Happiness: A Zen Guide
Hui-k’e asked Bodhidharma how to attain peace of mind. Bodhidharma said, “Bring your mind out, and I will pacify it.” “But when I look for it,” said Hui-k’e, “I can’t find it.” “In that case,” the master concluded, “it’s pacified already.”
Alan Watts • In My Own Way: An Autobiography
“Calmness of mind does not mean you should stop your activity. Real calmness should be found in activity itself.”
David Spinks • Is Conscious Hustle Possible?
For Zen students the most important thing is not to be dualistic. Our “original mind” includes everything within itself.
Shunryu Suzuki • Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: 50th Anniversary Edition
Author of the book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Suzuki immigrated to the area and taught there until his death in 1971. In his book, Suzuki writes, “The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert.” Such a mind, he added, is “open to all possibilities” and “can see things as they are.” Suzuki also made an important point that unde
... See moreWarren Berger • A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas
however much za-zen may have been exaggerated in the Far East, a certain amount of “sitting just to sit” might well be the best thing in the world for the jittery minds and agitated bodies of Europeans and Americans–provided they do not use it as a method for turning themselves into Buddhas.
Alan W. Watts • The Way of Zen
Popularity almost invariably leads to a deterioration of quality, and as Zen became less of an informal spiritual movement and more of a settled institution, it underwent a curious change of character. It became necessary to “standardize” its methods and to find means for the masters to handle students in large numbers. There were also the special
... See moreAlan W. Watts • The Way of Zen
The difference of the adept in Zen from the ordinary run of men is that the latter are, in one way or another, at odds with their own humanity, and are attempting to be angels or demons.7 A doka poem by Ikkyu says: We eat, excrete, sleep, and get up; This is our world. All we have to do after that– Is to die.