Zen is not an art to master. Zen is to wake us up and realize who we truly are. Zen is a thought system that came from Mahayana Buddhism, which puts importance on the practice of meditation. Here are a few quotes on the zen state of mind.
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” -Buddha
“Wherever you are, be there totally.”
“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.”
“There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.”
“Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get.”
“The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.”
“When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”
“Rest and be kind, you don’t have to prove anything.”
“All know the way, but few actually walk it.”
“The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.”
“Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.”
“What the superior man seeks is in himself; the small man seeks in others.”
“The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.”
“All that we are, is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.”
“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.”
“When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original selves.”
“To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss.”
“Zen is not an art, it’s not a religion. It’s a realization.”
“One loses joy and happiness in the attempt to possess them.”
“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”
“Zen is a path of liberation. It liberates you. It is freedom from the first step to the last. You are not required to follow any rules; you must find out your own rules and your life in the light of awareness.”
“Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.”
“Self-realization is effortless. What you are trying to find is what you already are.”
“Wise men don’t judge – they seek to understand.”
“All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no mind, from inner stillness.”
“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.”
“Have the fearless attitude of a hero and the loving heart of a child.”
“The real meditation is how you live your life.”
“The resistance to the unpleasant situation is the root of suffering.”
“Joy and happiness abound in the here and now. You will notice it if you pay attention.”
“Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst.”
“The more you know, the less you need.”
“Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.”
“Mindfulness isn’t difficult, we just need to remember to do it.”
“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.”
“As a bee gathering nectar does not harm or disturb the color and fragrance of the flower; so do the wise move through the world.”
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Sharvari is a CSE undergrad and an author at Evolve. She is a dreamer. An explorer of life which she showcases in her writing. She writes to share, to learn and to be heard!