“A mind full of preconceived ideas, subjective intentions, or habits is not open to things as they are.”

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“accept everything as it is, giving to each thing the same respect given to a Buddha.”

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“Because emptiness has no limit and no beginning, we can believe in it… If you really understand this, tears will flow.”

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“Because you lose yourself, your problem will be a problem for you. If you do not lose yourself, then even though you have difficulty, there is actually no problem whatsoever.”

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“Big mind is something you have, not something to seek for... there is no Hinayana way or Mahayana way. Only because you seek to gain something through rigid formal practice does it become a problem”

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“Cultivate your own spirit, don's go seeking for something outside of yourself.”

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“Don’t create problems which are extra. Just the problems you already have are enough.”

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“Even in wrong practice, when you realize it and continue, there is right practice.”

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“Forget everything and discover something quite new and different moment after moment... As long as we have some definite idea about the past or some hope in the future, we cannot be serious with the moment that exists right now.”

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“If it is unattainable, how can we attain it?... Even though it is impossible, we have to do it because our true nature wants us to.”

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“If we are aware that what we do or what we create is really the gift of the 'big I,' we will not create problems for ourselves or for others.”

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“If your effort is in the right direction, then there is no fear of losing anything... There is nothing to lose... If you understand this ultimate fact, there is no fear.”

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“In love there should be hate, or non-attachment. And in hate there should be love, or acceptance. Love and hate are one thing. We should accept weeds, despite how we feel about them.”

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“Limit your activity to what you can do just now.. when you sit, just sit; when you eat, just eat.”

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“Meditation practice is just medicine… sometimes it’s necessary but you should not mistake medicine for food.”

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“Once you are in the middle of delusion, there is no end to delusion. You will be involved in deluded ideas one after another.”

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“One who thinks he is a good father is not a good father; one who thinks he is a good husband is not a good husband. One who thinks he is one of the worst husbands may be a good one if he is always trying to be a good one with single-hearted effort.”

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“Open yourself and give up everything”

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“The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous.”

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“The cause of conflict is some fixed or one-sided idea… there is not particular way in true practice. You should find your own way”

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“The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are and to let everything go as it goes.”

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“The true wisdom of life is that in each step of the way, the other shore is actually reached.”

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“There is no connection between I myself yesterday and I myself in this moment; there is no connection whatsoever.”

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“to express yourself freely as you are is the most important thing to make yourself happy, and to make others happy.”

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“To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him.”

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“Try not to achieve anything special. You already have everything in your own pure quality.”

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“We should forget, day by day, what we have done; this is true non-attachment. And we should do something new.”

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“When we forget ourselves, we are the true activity of reality itself and there is no problem whatsoever in this world.”

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“When we talk about our way, there is apt to be some misunderstanding because the true way always has at least two sides... When we talk about the negative side, the positive side is missing, and when we talk about the positive side, the negative side is missing.”

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“When you are you, you see things as they are, and you become one with your surroundings. There is your true self.”

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“when you do everything without thinking about whether it is good or bad, and when you do something with your whole mind and body, then that is our way.”

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“When your practice is calm and ordinary, everyday life itself is enlightenment.”

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“Whenever Dogen-zenji dipped water from the river, he used only half a dipperful, returning the rest to the river again… when we are one with the water, we intuitively do it in Dogen’s way.”

Chapters: 56. One with the Dust

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“Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.”

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“Only when you give up everything can you see a true teacher. Even the name of Buddhism is already a dirty spot on our practice. It is not teaching. The character and effort of our teachers is our teaching.”

Chapters: 1. The Unnamed

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