Quotes by Dogen Zenji

"Zazen is not thinking of good, not thinking of bad."

"Set aside all involvements and let the myriad things rest."

"Do not desire to become a buddha; let sitting or lying down drop away. "

"Be mindful of the passing of time, and engage yourself in zazen as though you are saving your head from fire."

"Be moderate in eating and drinking. "

'I asked, "What are words?" The tenzo said, "One, two, three, four, five." I asked again, "What is practice?" "Nothing in the entire universe is hidden."'

"The black dragon jewel you have been searching for, is everywhere."

"Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water. Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky. The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky."

"A zen master's life is one continuous mistake."

"Studying the Buddha way is studying oneself.
Studying oneself is forgetting oneself.
Forgetting oneself is being enlightened by all things.
Being enlightened by all things is to shed the body-mind of oneself, and those of others.
No trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment
continues endlessly."

"That you carry yourself forward and experience the myriad things is delusion. That the myriad things come forward and experience themselves is awakening."

"The true person is
Not anyone in particular;
But like the deep blue color
Of the limitless sky,
It is everyone,
Everywhere in the world."

"Sitting is the gateway of truth to total liberation."

"Those who see worldly life as an obstacle to Dharma see no Dharma in everyday actions; they have not discovered that there are no everyday actions outside of Dharma."

"The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech."

"Handle even a single leaf of green in such a way that it manifests the body of the Buddha. This in turn allows the Buddha to manifest through the leaf."