quotes

There are moments when one feels free from one's own identification with human limitations and inadequacies. At such moments one imagines that one stands on some spot of a small planet, gazing in amazement at the cold yet profoundly moving beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable; life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny; only Being.

You are now in control of your life. You see, the ego is never in control. The ego is controlled by wishes for comfort and convenience on the part of the body, by demands of the mind, and by outbursts of the emotions. But the higher nature controls the body and the mind and the emotions. I can say to my body, "Lie down there on that cement floor and go to sleep," and it obeys. I can say to my mind, "Shut out everything else and concentrate on this job before you," and it's obedient. I can say to my emotions, "Be still, even in the face of this terrible situation," and they are still. It's a different way of living. The philosopher Thoreau wrote: If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps he hears a different drummer. And now you are following a different drummer--the higher nature instead of the lower.

All the evil in the world, and all the unhappiness, comes from the I-concept.

Find your characters' vulnerable spots and poke them and you'll find a story.

Ahab makes a great impression on his first appearance in Moby Dick... And if either by birth or by circumstance something pathological was at work deep in his nature, this did not detract from his dramatic character. For tragic greatness always derives from a morbid break with health, you can be sure of that.

Fucking and shooting are the same.

I am sometimes asked if it’s possible to do zazen lying down. If that’s the best you can do‚ in other words, if you are bedridden or paralyzed or otherwise incapacitated, and not just hanging around in bed hoping to sleep a little longer, then yes, you can practice zazen lying down. The breathing will be slightly different than in the seated posture, but otherwise it’s the same: don’t follow your thoughts.

The Posture of the Mind As you sit, the mind takes on various postures or stances. It crosses its arms and tries to just wait things out. It twiddles its thumbs. It fidgets and scratches and wriggles. It flails its arms, shakes its fists, and screams. It crouches and slumps among its old memories, its favorite old movies and songs, as random chattering. It bloats with pride at having been "watching the breath" so clearly. On and on and on. The mind defines itself as "this" as opposed to "that". It agrees or disagrees. It tells itself stories about itself over and over to try to prove to itself that it is real. It takes a point of view and then confuses that viewpoint with what is seen and so blinds itself to seeing clearly. And on and on and on. The mind is the mirror in which experiences arise and present themselves within Awareness. Breathing in, breathing out, just sit.

The Posture of the Breath Like thoughts, the breath comes and goes. If anger arises, the breath becomes angry. If sadness arises, the breath sighs. If your practice is tense, the breath is tense. Attend to the rising and falling movements of the lower belly as the breath fills and releases. Each breath is fresh, new - you have never breathed this breath before. The breath is a touchstone through which you can bring body and mind together in the same time: here, now. Just feeling the breath itself, abandon notions of the breath. Don't even "watch" or "follow" the breathing. Just feel this breath. When you wander into discursiveness and get lost in thoughts, return to just this breath. When mindfulness darkens or sinks, return to just this breath. Practice free from struggle. Don't tense the belly around the breath to make sure you are watching it and thus take on the stance of a "watcher". Don't try to manufacture deep, calm breaths. Just breathe as you breathe. With this breath, you enter into your life. The breath is a mirror of the mind. In this posture of breath, just sit.

Words create lies. Pain can be trusted.

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.

We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.

There are no failures. Just experiences and your reactions to them.

Cinema is the modern form of writing, and light is the ink.

Without health life is not life; it is only a state of languor and suffering - an image of death.

Hope is the feeling that the feeling you have isn't permanent.