Dogen Zenji

To study Buddhism is to study ourselves. To study ourselves is to forget ourselves.

Zazen is an activity that is an extension of the universe. Zazen is not the life of an individual, it’s the universe that’s breathing.

You should study not only that you become a mother when your child is born, but also that you become a child.

In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light.

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

If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

Christ was only crucified once and for a few hours. Think of the hundreds of thousands whom Christ has been crucifying in a quiet way ever since.

For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command or faith a dictum. I am my own God. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.

No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.

The Bible does not need advertising by me, but I wish more people could be persuaded to read it. Perhaps if they had been, we should not have this war on our hands. For greed and idleness brought it on.

A cult is a religion with no political power.

The Christian ethic played an essential part in my upbringing.

I believe a man is better anchored who has a belief in the Supreme Being.

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

Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.

Believe in something larger than yourself…get involved in the big ideas of your time.

Music brought me closer to the idea of God.

If something is easy for you, work on it a little. If it’s hard for you, work on it a lot.

Methuselah lived to be 969 years old . You boys and girls will see more in the next fifty years than Methuselah saw in his whole lifetime.

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?

Before enlightnment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightnment, chop wood, carry water.