Zen tries to free the mind from the slavery of words and the constriction of logic. Zen also aims at the perfection of person-hood and the Zen practitioner attempts to embody non-discriminatory wisdom, accompanied by compassion. Inspirational zen quotes on mind, life, wisdom, love, happiness and nature will challenge the way you think, and help guide you through any life experience.
If you’re searching for self happiness quotes and best thank you quotes that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of top mood quotes, popular inner peace quotes and encouraging dance in the rain quotes.
Most Famous Zen Quotes
When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you. Lao Tzu
Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. Bruce Lee
To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is. Thich Nhat Hạnh
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as if nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein
Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong. Zen Proverb
When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways either by losing hope and falling into self destructive habits or by using the challenge to find our inner strength. Thanks to the teachings of Buddha, I have been able to take this second way. Dalai Lama
Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine. Shunryu Suzuki
Silence is the language of Om. We need silence to be able to reach our Self. Both internal and external silence is very important to feel the presence of that supreme Love. Amit Ray
Each morning, we are born again. What we do today is what matters most. Buddha
Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well. Jack Kornfield
The words of the Buddha offer this truth Hatred never ceases by hatred but by love alone is healed. Jack Kornfield
Throughout this life, you can never be certain of living long enough to take another breath. Huang Po
Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment. Morihei Ueshiba
The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something. Koun Yamada
Friendship is the purest love. It is the highest form of Love where nothing is asked for, no condition, where one simply enjoys giving. Osho
When thoughts arise, then do all things arise. When thoughts vanish, then do all things vanish. Huang Po
To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love, and joy underneath the pain is freedom, salvation, enlightenment. Eckhart Tolle
The noble minded are calm and steady. Little people are forever fussing and fretting. Confucius
You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul. Swami Vivekananda
All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no mind, from inner stillness. Eckhart Tolle
Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful a meaningful friend or a meaningful day. Dalai Lama
When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.Shunryu Suzuki
To accept some idea of truth without experiencing it is like a painting of a cake on paper which you cannot eat. Suzuki Roshi
Let go over a cliff, die completely, and then come back to life after that you cannot be deceived. Zen Proverb
The resistance to the unpleasant situation is the root of suffering. Ram Dass
When I feel like dancing, I dance. I don’t care if anyone else is dancing or if everyone else is laughing at me. I dance. Rachel Danson
Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace. Dalai Lama
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them. Dalai Lama
Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong. Zen Proverb
Have good trust in yourself not in the One that you think you should be, but in the One that you are. Maezumi Roshi
Upon retiring, sleep as if you had entered your last sleep. Upon awakening, leave your bed behind you instantly as if you had cast away a pair of old shoes. Soyen Shaku
When I feel like dancing, I dance. I don’t care if anyone else is dancing or if everyone else is laughing at me. I dance. Rachel Danson
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. Alan Watts
All that we are, is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become. Buddha
It really boils down to this that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Martin Luther King
If you realize you have enough, you are truly rich. Lao Tzu
To follow the path, look to the master, follow the master, walk with the master, see through the master, become the master. Zen Proverb
The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your two feet. Shunryu Suzuki
For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them. Thích Nhat Hanh
To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself. Thích Nhất Hạnh
Well, thing is, after they cancelled Zen, I didn’t work for eight months. And in that case, it was not my choice. After I’ve done something that I’m really proud of and I think changes the way I’m perceived, the immediate reaction is: nothing. Rufus Sewell
Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth. Alan Watts
If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present. Lao Tzu
Self realization is effortless. What you are trying to find is what you already are. Ramesh Balsekar
Zen is not a religion. There is no room for a cult. There is no dependence on a teacher. There is only learning how to use your own mind and making it strong. Frederick Lenz
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. Alan Watts
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 are required to find out your own rules and your own life in the light of awareness. Osho
Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows. Jack Kornfield
Zen is a liberation from time. For if we open our eyes and see clearly, it becomes obvious that there is no other time than this instant, and that the past and the future are abstractions without any concrete reality. Alan Watts
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. Buddha
To accept some idea of truth without experiencing it is like a painting of a cake on paper which you cannot eat. Suzuki Roshi
Nothing ever exists entirely alone. Everything is in relation to everything else. Buddha
Well, I believe life is a Zen koan, that is, an unsolvable riddle. But the contemplation of that riddle even though it cannot be solved is, in itself, transformative. And if the contemplation is of high enough quality, you can merge with the divine. Tom Robbins
If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present. Lao Tzu
To follow the path, look to the master, follow the master, walk with the master, see through the master, become the master. Zen Proverb
Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful a meaningful friend or a meaningful day. Dalai Lama
Any enlightenment which requires to be authenticated, certified, recognized, congratulated, is false, or at least incomplete. R.H. Blyth
This dew like life fades away time speeds swiftly. In this short life of ours, avoid involvement in superfluous things and just study the Way. Dōgen Zenji
My finger can point to the moon, but my finger is not the moon. You don’t have to become my finger, nor do you have to worship my finger. You have to forget my finger, and look at where it is pointing. Osho
If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. That is very serious! Thich Nhat Hanh
Pursue not the outer entanglements dwell not in the inner void be serene in the oneness of things and dualism vanishes by itself. Sengcan
At the still point in the center of the circle one can see the infinite in all things. Chuang Tzu
he foolish reject what they see, not what they think; the wise reject what they think, not what they see. Huang Po
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Buddha
When you think everything is someone else fault, you will suffer a lot. When you realize that everything springs only from yourself, you will learn both peace and joy. Dalai Lama
Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be. Sonia Ricotti
When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything. Shunryu Suzuki
The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it. Thich Nhat Hahn
Emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite possibilities. D.T. Suzuki
What day is it?” asked Pooh. It’s today, squeaked Piglet. My favourite day, said Pooh. A. A Milne
Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong. Zen Proverb
When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself. Shunryu Suzuki
Power over others is weakness disguised as strength. True power is within & available to you now. Eckhart Tolle
Do you agree with these powerful quotes about zen? I would love to know. Please let me know your favorite deep zen quotes in the comment section below.
