26th August 2003
Last Updated: 02/10/03
Some of these are thought-provoking, others not so much so. I know quite a few people were interested in these quotes, so here they are...
ZEN WISDOM FROM EIHEIJI TEMPLE
Without
Practice, No Emergence
To
know and
To
understand are different.
Even
though we know,
Without
putting that knowledge to practice, we cannot understand.
Just
reading a description of a medicine’s good effects
Won’t
cure an illness.
Zen
is also something we cannot understand until we put it to practice.
Life
has no age limit
Life
has no age limit.
There
are no “declining years”, no “remaining years”.
We
greet death. Until that instant
Life
is active service.
Life
being active service means
Being
a person with no regrets when life ends,
Being
a person with no fear of “old age” and “death”.
Knowing
instead only “noble, beautiful age” and “the ease of death”.
The
First Step
In
whatever we do,
If
the first step blunders
We
go off in an absurd direction.
We
practice the Buddha’s path
Not
to be rescued ourselves
But
for the sake of serving the world and all people.
From
this vow
Let
us take the first step.
Aspiration
toward the Buddhist Path
There
are some religions for hoping a miracle will occur,
And
some religions for praying to get supernatural abilities,
And
even religions for imploring business success,
But
the Buddha’s religion is a religion of seeking to guide society and to serve
people.
The
aspiration toward the Buddhist path
Means
loving the whole universe as parents love their children.
The
Mind that Knows Sufficiency
There
is neither virtue in what is meagre
Nor
evil in what is bountiful.
Regardless
of wealth or poverty, when the mind of greed arises
People
love their beautiful minds.
The
Buddha-Mind is the mind that knows what is sufficient.
Mother
Nature’s Bounty
Rice
and vegetable have lives.
Meat
animals and fish have lives.
It
is thanks to those lives
That
we are able to live.
Let
us receive food with gratitude for those precious lives
Always
saying, “I thankfully accept this gift of nourishment,”
And
“Thank you for this wonderful food”.
The
Buddhist Precepts
We
pledge not to kill living things.
We
pledge not to greedily take what has not been given.
We
pledge not to indulge ourselves in licentious acts.
We
pledge not to speak untruths.
We
pledge not to drink intoxicants that lead to delusion.
Righteous
Religion
Too
much devotion to one’s own religion
And
slandering other people’s religions
So
the result is hatred and strife: Is there any greater stupidity?
The
righteous religion
In
every era
Is
one that illuminates people and leads to a peaceful way of life.
People
of religion should never draw swords against each other.
The
Value of a Person
The
value of a person
Has
nothing to do with status, fortune, or occupation.
Appraising
a person just on the basis of learning talent
Invites
error.
It
is rather thoughts and acts giving life to knowledge that are precious.
Thoughts
and acts are what create the value of a person.
Illumination
from Our Feet
Arranging
our shoes neatly, we bring harmony to our minds.
When
our minds are harmonious, we arrange shoes neatly.
If
we arrange shoes neatly when we take them off,
Our
minds won’t be disturbed when we put them on.
If
someone leaves shoes in disarray,
Let
us silently set them to order.
Such
an act surely will bring harmony
To
the minds of people around the world.
How
Shall We Live?
We
are born and die one time in this human life –
How
shall we live it?
That
is the fundamental question of the Buddha Dharma.
Is
it a joyous thing to live long?
Life
is not that way.
Is
it sorrowful to die after a short life?
Life
is not that way.
The
question is how we shall live.
Awakening
the Buddha-Mind
The
Buddha-Mind
Is
nothing other than the mind
That
urges services on behalf of the world and its people
Before
our own affairs.
Because
we focus on ourselves, this takes a struggle.
But
when the Buddha-Mind is awakened
Even
hard effort changes into something worth living for.
Buddha
Dharma is Zazen
The
Buddha Dharma is Zaxen.
Zazen
is the seated figure of Shakyamuni Buddha’s awakening.
While
even a single being is within Zazen,
Not
one being is outside the Buddha Dharma.
All
Things Are Impermanent
That
which is born will also die.
That
which has met will also part.
What
has been taken will be lost.
What
has been made will break.
Time
flies past like an arrow.
All
is evanescence.
Is
there, in this world
Anything
not transient?
Beautiful
Earth Forever
Space:
a gleaming skyful of stars!
Beautiful
Earth: always yearning for its mother sun, today again travelling the Milky Way!
Blue
earth – a small, bright jewel
For
uncountable myriads of years; immeasurable, unknowable infinities –
Beautiful
Earth forever!
Dedication
In
the ten directions and the three worlds, to all buddhas,
Venerable
ones, bodhisattvas, mahasattvas,
The
great perfection of wisdom.
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