Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

[Undo]

As the title says really. Do you have a favourite zen related aphorism, quote, on-liner or saying?












(I'm doing some boring work and wondering mind is kicking in. I suspect I will start housework in a bit (shudders) so humour me please)

[Longdog]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

Do you :?: :wink:

[chessie]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

Can't resist.

The end of the story goes:

Have you eaten?

Yes.

Then wash your bowl.
(my favorite three words in Zen, so far--wash your bowl! :P
Gassho, ann

[Hans]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

Hello!



Wide open space, nothing holy.



Gassho,

Hans

[will]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

Titles of books and what not ie:

Branching streams flow in the Dark
The merging of relative and absolute
Opening the hand of thought
etc.

Will

[lora]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

Hi,

The following, I think, falls under the "et cetera" bit (did'nt know where else to put it, heard it when I was a child and for some reason it keeps popping up in various sources lately):

As i was going up the stair
I met a man who was'nt there,
He was'nt there again today.
I wish to God he'd go away.

Hughes Mearns, "Antigonish"

( laughter then and laughter now!)

Many blessings,
Lora

[Tb]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

Hi.

Don't separate things in warm and cold.

May the force be with you
Tb

[Keishin]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

One of my teachers, a zen priest ordained by Zengaku Soyu Matsuoka Roshi, Rev. Robert McNeil had 3 statements.
It seemed to me those three and silence itself are all anyone really needs to conduct themselves in the world:

Is that so.

We'll see.

Thank you. (Thank you very much).

Don't take my word for it. Try them yourself. See if you can make it through the day using only these three responses (of course you would choose the one suitable for the situation/occasion).

And who says we zen folk don't know how to have fun?

[chicanobudista]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

As the title says really. Do you have a favourite zen related aphorism, quote, on-liner or saying?

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." - S. Suzuki

"Sadly, the words immediately begin to crumble and fail the heart's knowing. As several Zen teachers have pointed out, open your mouth and you have made your first mistake..."
--James Ford (UU Minister & Soto Zen Priest)

Not Buddhist....but


"Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you."
--"Sand and Foam" by Kahlil Gibran

I use it alot on my emails. :wink: :mrgreen:

[disastermouse]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

"Those stone Buddhas deserve all the bird shit they get,
I wave my skinny arms,
Like a tall flower in the breeze" - Ikkyu

[Bansho]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

Hi,

From birth until death -- it's just this.
(from the Shinji Shobogenzo)

Gassho
Ken

[Jundo]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

From the 'Ol Blue Eyed Buddha ...

Scooby-dooby-do
Do-do-dah-di-dah
Dah-dah-dah-di-dah
Dah-di-do-di-dah

etc. etc. (to ininity)

[Fuken]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

Mu

[Undo]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

Some beautiful, some abstract and (I suspect) some not taking this seriously :wink:

Thanks for all of the replies and feel free in posting more.

One of my own is

"As things are viewed, so they appear to be".
Not sure where is comes from.

Right, back to house work.

[Chris H.]

Re: Your favourite zen aphorism, quote et cetera?

I'm not sure who actually said this and I admit I got it from a Microsoft commercial but I think it works surprisingly well:

I'm a human being. Not a human thinking. Not a human doing. A human being.