Explore Quotes by D.T. Suzuki

Until we recognize the SELF that exists apart from who we think we are - we cannot know the Ch'an ( ZEN ) MIND

Zen Makes use, to a great extent, of poetical expressions; Zen is wedded to poetry.

To Zen, time and eternity are one.

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

Implicity, there should be something mysterious in every day.

Zen, in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom. By making us drink right from the fountain of life it liberates us from all the yokes under which we finite beings are usually suffering in this world.

The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.

The rocks are where they are- and this is their will. The rivers flow- and this is their will. The birds fly- this is their will. Human beings talk- this is their will. The seasons change, heaven sends down rain or snow, the earth occasionally shakes, the waves roll, the stars shine- each of them follows its own will. To be is to will and so is to become.

Dhyana is retaining one's tranquil state of mind in any circumstance, unfavorable as well as favorable, and not being disturbed or frustrated even when adverse conditions present themselves one after another.

If I am asked If I am asked, then, what Zen teaches, I would answer, Zen teaches nothing. Whatever teachings there are in Zen, they come out of one's own mind. We teach ourselves; Zen merely points the way.

The intuitive recognition of the instant, thus reality is the highest act of wisdom.

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded. Therefore, anything that has the semblance of an external authority is rejected by Zen. Absolute faith is placed in a man's own inner being. For whatever authority there is in Zen, all comes from within.

Great works are done when one is not calculating and thinking.

The fighter is to be always single-minded with one object in view: to fight, looking neither backward nor sidewise. To go straight forward in order to crush the enemy is all that is necessary for him.

The waters are in motion, but the moon retains its serenity.

Zen professes itself to be the spirit of Buddhism, but in fact it is the spirit of all religions and philosophies.

Life, according to Zen, ought to be lived as a bird flies through the air, or as a fish swims in the water.

In the spiritual world there are no time divisions such as the past, present and future; for they have contracted themselves into a single moment of the present where life quivers in its true sense. The past and the future are both rolled up in this present moment of illumination, and this present moment is not something standing still with all its contents, for it ceaselessly moves on.

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

Enlightenment is like everyday consciousness but two inches above the ground.