"For He is the Knower, and the Knower can know other things, but cannot make Him

self the object of his own knowledge, in the same way that fire can burn other t
hings but cannot burn itself."
"There is no ego, no enduring entity which is the constant subject of our changi
ng experience."
"But in Zen and in other schools of the Mahayana, it is often taken in a more fi
gurative way, as that the process of rebirth from moment to moment, so that one
is being reborn so long as one identifies himself with a continuing ego which re
incarnates itself afresh at each moment of time."
"The Buddha's precepts of conduct - abstinence from taking life, taking what is
not given, exploitation of the passions, lying, and intoxication - are voluntari
ly assumed rules of expediency, the intent of which is to remove the hindrances
to clarity of awareness."
"But the anxiety-laden problem of what will happen to me when I die is, after al
l, like asking what happens to my fist when I open my hand, or where my lap goes
when I stand up."
"Thus ignorance(avidya) gives rise to motivation(samskara) and this in series to
consciousness(vijnana), name-and-form(namarupa), the six senses(shadayatana), s
ense stimulation(sparsa), sense experience(vedana), grasping(trishna), possessiv
eness(upadana), coming-to-be(bhava), birth(jati), and old-age-and-death(jaramara
na), which again gives rise to avidya."
"There is nothing to understand, there is nothing to understand. For nothing in
particular has been indicated, nothing in particular has been explained...No one
will grasp this perfection of wisdom as here explained. For no Dharma(doctrine)
at all has been indicated, lit up, or communicated. So there will be no one who
can grasp it."
"With the "eye of prajna" the human situation is seen for what it is - a quenchi
ng of thirst with salt water, a pursuit of goals which simply require the pursui
t of other goals, a clutching of objects whichthe swift course of time renders a
s insubstantial as mist."
"The wise person does not strive(wu-wei); The ignorant man ties himself up... If
you work on your mind with your mind, How can you avoid an immense confusion?"
"Without calling it a pitcher, tell me what it is."
"The head monk said, "You couldn't call it a piece of wood." At this the monaste
ry cook kicked the pitcher over and walked away. The cook was put in charge of t
he new monastery."
"Only when you have no thing in your mind and no mind in things are you vacant a
nd spiritual, empty and marvelous."
"Professor Irving Lee, of Northwestern University, used to hold up a matchbox be
fore his class, asking "What's this?" The students would usually drop squarely i
nto the trap and say, "A matchbox!" At this Professor Lee would say, "No, no! It
's this -" throwing the matchbox at the class, and adding, "Matchbox is a noise.
Is this a noise?"
"Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself."
"In the end, the only alternative to a shuddering paralysis is to leap into acti
on regardless of the consequences."
"For feeling blocks action, and blocks itself as a form of action, when it gets
caught in this same tendency to observe or feel itself indefinitely - as when, i
n the midst of enjoying myself, I examine myself to see if I am getting the utmo
st out of the occasion. Not content with tasting the food, I am also trying to t
aste my tongue. Not content with feeling happy, I want to feel myself feeling ha
ppy - so as to be sure not to miss anything."
"One must not forget the social context of Zen. It is primarily a way of liberat
ion for those who have mastered the disciplines of social convention, of the con
ditioning of the individual by the group. Zen is a medicine for the ill effects
of this conditioning, for the mental paralysis and anxiety which come from exces
sive self-consciousness."
"For the practice of Zen is not the true practice so long as it has an end in vi
ew, and when it has no end in view it is awakening - the aimless, self-sufficien
t life of the "eternal now"."
"it should be obvious that action without wisdom, without clear awareness of the
world as it really is, can never improve anything."
"One seeks and seeks, but cannot find. One then gives up, and the answer comes b
y itself."
"We eat, excrete, sleep, and get up; This is our world. All we have to do after
that - is to die."
"He walks or sits all day in a "vivid-daze", conscious of everything going on ar
ound him, responding mechanically to circumstances, but totally baffled by every
thing."
"Over the river, the shining moon; in the pine trees, sighing wind; All night lo
ng so tranquil - why? And for whom?"
"Even when robbed he is still rich, for
The thief
left it behing-
The moon at the window.
And when there is no money,
The wind brings
Fallen leaves enough
To make a fire."
"In this moment there is nothing which comes to be. In this moment there is noth
ing which ceases to be. Thus there is no birth-and-death to be brought to an end
. Wherefore the absolute tranquility(of nirvana) is this present moment. Though
it is at this moment, there is no limit to this moment, and herein is eternal de
light."
""It's just this", he said, "and nothing else"."