Quotes on Zen Buddhism

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored, "Why is there so much suffering?" Suzuki Roshi replied, "No reason.

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles.

However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you If you do not act on upon them?

One must be deeply aware of the impermanence of the world.

Life is a vast, unknowable movement of wholeness with no one separate from it and nothing outside of it.

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

Three things cannot long be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves.