Be moderate in eating and drinking. Mindful of the passing of time, engage yourself in zazen as though saving your head from fire.
DogenRead
Handle even a single leaf of green in such a way that it manifests the body of the Buddha. This in turn allows the Buddha to manifest through the leaf.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the profound significance of seemingly small actions and their connection to greater spiritual truths.
Dogen's quote reflects on the deep connection between the mundane and the divine, suggesting that every action, no matter how minor, can embody a greater spiritual reality. By caring for something as simple as a leaf with mindfulness and reverence, one can invoke and express the essence of enlightenment, thus illustrating the interconnectedness of all things and the potential for personal and spiritual awakening in everyday life.
Themes
MindfulnessSpiritualityBuddhismSimplicityNature
In practice
Example use cases
In a meditation session, to emphasize the importance of being present, one might quote Dogen's thoughts on the leaf.
More from Dogen
All quotes βIn the assemblies of the enlightened ones there have been many cases of mastering the Way bringing forth the heart of plants and trees; this is what awakening the mind for enlightenment is like. The fifth patriarch of Zen was once a pine-planting wayfarer; Rinzai worked on planting cedars and pines on Mount Obaku. . . . Working with plants, trees, fences and walls, if they practice sincerely they will attain enlightenment.
DogenRead
To start from the self and try to understand all things is delusion. To let the self be awakened by all things is enlightenment.
DogenRead
A fool sees himself as another, but a wise man sees others as himself.
DogenRead
Do not travel to other dusty lands, forsaking your own sitting place; if you cannot find the truth where you are now, you will never find it.
DogenRead
Do no harmful actions, do not become attached to the cycle of death and rebirth, show kindness, respect the old and have compassion for the young, do not have a heart that rejects or a heart that covets and have no worry or sadness in your heart. This is what is called enlightenment. Do not seek it elsewhere.
DogenRead
Similar quotes
In the human heart one generation of passions follows another; from the ashes of one springs the spark of the next.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.
EpictetusRead
It is bad for a young man to sin; but it is worse for an old man to sin.
Abu BakrRead
The world will never be long without some good reason to hate the unhappy; their real faults are immediately detected; and if those are not sufficient to sink them into infamy, an individual weight of calumny will be super-added.
Samuel JohnsonRead
Tea is nought but this: first you heat the water, then you make the tea. Then you drink it properly. That is all you need to know.
Sen No RikyuRead
I'm not sure if the passage of time affects our core identities so much as reveals them to us.
Jennifer EganRead