Be moderate in eating and drinking. Mindful of the passing of time, engage yourself in zazen as though saving your head from fire.
DogenRead
If we look at the world with a deluded body and mind, we will think that our self is permanent. But if we practice correctly and return to our true self, we will realize that nothing is permanent
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the impermanence of self and reality, suggesting that a clear understanding of oneself leads to the realization of change.
Dogen's quote reflects a fundamental aspect of Buddhist philosophy, which asserts that attachment to the self and the belief in its permanence create delusions. By practicing mindfulness and returning to one's true self, individuals can achieve a deeper awareness of reality, recognizing that everything is transient and subject to change.
In practice
In a meditation class discussing the nature of self.
Be moderate in eating and drinking. Mindful of the passing of time, engage yourself in zazen as though saving your head from fire.
In 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.
To start from the self and try to understand all things is delusion. To let the self be awakened by all things is enlightenment.
A fool sees himself as another, but a wise man sees others as himself.
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.
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.
How much can a crown be worth, when a crow can dine upon a king?
Let woman's claim be as broad in the concrete as the abstract. We take our stand on the solidarity of humanity, the oneness of life, and the unnaturalness and injustice of all special favoritism, whether of sex, race, country, or condition. If one link of the chain is broken, the chain is broken.
The gospel is like a caged lion,' said the great baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon. 'It does not need to be defended, it simply needs to be let out of it's cage' Today, the cage is our accommodation to the secular/sacred split that reduces Christianity to a matter of personal belief. To unlock the cage, we need to become utterly convinced that, as Francis Schaeffer said, Christianity is not merely religious truth, it is total truth- truth about the whole of reality.
An armed society is a polite society.
What would be the use of immortality to a person who cannot use well a half an hour?
The Torah is the foundational text for Jewish law, but the Haggadah is our book of living memory. We are not merely telling a story here. We are being called to a radical act of empathy. Here we are, embarking on an ancient, perennial attempt to give human lives - our lives - dignity.
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