{"collection":"Buddhism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bud/zen/sayings.htm","path":"bud/zen/sayings.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/sayings.htm","text":"Zen Sayings\n\u00a0\nSitting Quietly\n\u5140\u7136\u7121\u4e8b\u5750\u3001\u6625\u593e\u8349\u81ea\u751f\n\"Sitting quietly,\n doing nothing,\nSpring comes, and the\n grass grows by itself.\" Zenrin Kush\u00fb (The Way of Zen 134, 222)\n\u00a0\nSuchness\n\u9752\u5c71\u81ea\u9752\u5c71\u3001\u767d\u96f2\u81ea\u767d\u96f2\n\"The blue mountains\n are of themselves blue mountains;\n\"The white clouds\n are of themselves white clouds.\" Zenrin Kush\u00fb (The Way of Zen 134,\n 222)\n\u00a0\nMountains are Mountains\nThe famous saying of Ch'ing-y\u00fcan Wei-hsin\n (Seigen Ishin):\n\u8001\u50e7\u4e09\u5341\u5e74\u524d\u672a\u53c3\u79aa\u6642\u3001\u898b\u5c71\u662f\u5c71\u3001\u898b\u6c34\u662f\u6c34\u3001\u53ca\u81f3\u5f8c\u593e\u89aa\u898b\u77e5\u8b58\u3001\u6709\u7b87\u5165\u8655\u3001\u898b\u5c71\u4e0d\u662f\u5c71\u3001\u898b\u6c34\u4e0d\u662f\u6c34\u3001\u800c\u4eca\u5f97\u7b87\u9ad4\u6b47\u8655\u3001\u4f9d\u7136\u898b\u5c71\u79ea\u662f\u5c71\u3001\u898b\u6c34\u79ea\u662f\u6c34 (The\n Way of Zen 220 k)\nBefore I had studied Zen for thirty years, I saw\n mountains as mountains, and waters as waters. When I arrived at a more intimate\n knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains,\n and waters are not waters. But now that I have got its very substance I am at\n rest. For it's just that I see mountains once again as mountains, and waters\n once again as waters. 13\n13 Ch'uan Teng Lu, 22. (The Way of Zen\n 126)\n\u00a0\n\"Before a man studies Zen, to\n him mountains\n are mountains and waters are waters; after he gets an insight into the truth of\n Zen through the instruction of a good master, mountains to him are not\n mountains and waters are not waters; but after this when he really attains to\n the abode of rest, mountains are once more mountains and waters are waters.\"\n (Essays in Zen Buddhism \u2013 First Series 24)\n\u00a0\nEternity in an hour\n\u842c\u53e4\u9577\u7a7a\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An eternity of\n endless space:\n\u4e00\u671d\u98a8\u6708\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A day of wind and\n moon. (The\n Golden Age of Zen 246, 322 n.2)\n\"One of the most frequently\n reiterated couplets in Chinese Zen literature\" (The Golden Age of Zen\n 246)\n\u00a0\nOneness\n\u5929\u5730\u540c\u6839\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Heaven and earth and I are of the same\n root,\n\u842c\u7269\u4e00\u9ad4\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The\n ten-thousand things and I are of one substance.\nZen Master S\u00eang-chao/S\u00f5j\u00f5 (\u50e7\u8087 384-414)\n\u00a0\n\"Nan-ch'uan and his lay disciple Lu Hsuan (\u9678\u4e98). Lu was reciting\n Seng-chao's saying:\n\u5929\u5730\u8207\u6211\u540c\u6839 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Heaven\n and earth come from the same root as myself:\n\u842c\u7269\u8207\u6211\u7232\u4e00\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All things and I belong to one Whole.\nHowever, he did not really understand the full\n purport of it. Nan-ch'uan pointed at the peonies in the courtyard, saying, 'The\n worldlings look at these bush of flowers as in a dream.\" Lu did not see\n the point.\" (The Golden Age of Zen\n 285)\n\u9678\u5927\u592b\u5411\u5e2b\u9053\u3001\uff62\u8087\u6cd5\u5e2b\u3001\u4e5f\u751a\u5947\u602a\u3001\u89e3\u9053\"\u5929\u5730\u8207\u6211\u540c\u6839\u3001\u842c\u7269\u8207\u6211\u7232\u4e00\"\uff63\u5e2b\u6307\u5ead\u524d\u7261\u4e39\u82b1\u66f0\u3001\uff62\u5927\u592b\u3001\u6642\u4eba\u898b\u6b64\u4e00\u82b1\u682a\u5982\u5922\u76f8\u4f3c\uff63 (The Golden Age of Zen 324 n.92)\n\"While\n Rikk\u00f5, a high government official of the T'ang dynasty, had a talk with\n his Zen master Nansen, the official quoted a saying of S\u00f5j\u00f5, a\n noted monk scholar of an earlier dynasty:\nHeaven and earth and I\n are of the same root,\nThe ten-thousand things\n and I are of one substance\nand continued, 'Is not\n this a most remarkable statement?' / Nansen called the attention of the visitor\n to the flowering plant in the garden and said, 'People of the world look at\n these flowers as if they were in a dream.' \" (The Essentials of Zen Buddhism 483-4)\n\u00a0\nUnity\nMerge your\n mind with cosmic space, integrate your actions with myriad forms.\nCh'an master\n Hung-chih Cheng-ch\u00fceh (\u5b8f\u667a\u6b63\u89ba Wanshi Sh\u00f5kaku, 1091-1157)\n(Transmission of Light\n xi)\n\u00a0\nSubtlety\n\u5165\u6797\u4e0d\u52d5\u8349\u3001\u5165\u6c34\u4e0d\u7acb\u6ce2\n\"Entering the\n forest he moves not the grass;\nEntering the water he\n makes not a ripple.\" Zenrin Kush\u00fb (The Way of Zen 152, 224)\n\u00a0\nEveryday Mind\n\u4e89\u5982\u8457\u8863\u55ab\u98f2\u3001\u6b64\u5916\u66f4\u7121\u4f5b\u7956 \"There's nothing equal to wearing clothes and\n eating food. Outside this there are neither Buddhas nor Patriarchs.\"\n Zenrin Kush\u00fb (The Way of Zen 152, 224)\n\u00a0\nSeeking the Same Thing\nFrom the K'un-lun mountains eastward the\n (Taoist) term \"Great Oneness\" is used. From Kashmir westward the\n (Buddhist) term sambodhi is used. Whether one looks longingly toward\n \"non-being\" (wu) or cultivates \"emptiness\" (sunyata), the principle\n involved is the same. 4\n4 Quoted by Fung Yu-lan (1), vol. 2,\n p. 240, from Seng-yu, Ch'u San-tsang Chi-chi, 9. (The Way of Zen 82)\n\u00a0\nOcean of Pure Reality\n\u6e05\u6de8\u771e\u5982\u6d77 Ocean of pure Reality,\n\u6e5b\u7136\u9ad4\u5e38\u4f4f Its substance, in fathomless\n quiescence, exists eternally.\nCh'an master Fo-kuang Ju-man (\u4f5b\u5149\u5982\u6eff Bukk\u00f5 Nyoman)\n(The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth\n Patriarch 64)\n\u00a0\nGreat Unity\n\u6709\u4e00\u7269\u4e0a\u62c4\u5929\u4e0b\u62c4\u5730\u3002\u9ed2\u4f3c\u6f06\u3002\u5e38\u5728\u52d5\u7528\u4e2d\u3002\nThere is one thing: above, it supports Heaven;\n below, it upholds Earth. It is black like lacquer, always actively functioning.\nCh'an master Tung-shan\n Ling-chia (\u6d1e\u5c71\u826f\u4ef7 T\u00f5san Ry\u00f5kai, 807-869)\n(The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth\n Patriarch 74)\n\u00a0\nMan of Tao\n\u8b6c\u5982\u79cb\u6c34\u6f84\u6e1f\u6e05\u6d44\u7121\u7232\u6fb9\u6cde\u7121\u7919\u3002\u559a\u4ed6\u4f5c\u9053\u4eba\u4ea6\u540d\u7121\u4e8b\u4eba\u3002\nLike the clear stillness of autumn\n water\u2014pure and without activity; in its tranquil depths are no\n obstructions. Such an one is called a man of Tao, also, a man who has nothing\n further to do.\nWei-shan Ling-yu (\u6e88\u5c71\u9748\u7950 Isan Reiy\u00fb)\n(The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth\n Patriarch 66)\n\u00a0\nNondiscrimination\n\u5584\u8207\u4e0d\u5584\u3001\u4e16\u51fa\u4e16\u9593\u3001\u4e00\u5207\u8af8\u6cd5\u83ab\u8a18\u61b6\u3001\u83ab\u7de3\u5ff5\u3001\u653e\u6368\u8eab\u5fc3\u3001\u4eca\u5176\u81ea\u5728\u3002\u5fc3\u5982\u6728\u77f3\u3001\u7121\u6240\u8fa8\u5225\u3002\n\"When you forget the good and\n the non-good, the worldly life and the religious life, and all other dharmas,\n and permit no thoughts relating to them to arise, and you abandon body and\n mind\u2014then there is complete freedom. When the mind is like wood or stone,\n there is nothing to be discriminated.\" Pai-chang Huai-hai (\u767e\u4e08\u61f7\u6d77 Hyakuj\u00f5 Ekai,\n 720-814)\n(The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth\n Patriarch 63)\n\u00a0\nSpeech and Silence\n\u8a9e\u662f\u8b17\u3001\u5bc2\u662f\u8a91\u3001\u8a9e\u5bc2\u5411\u4e0a\u6709\u8def\u5728\n\"Speech is blasphemy, silence a lie. Above\n speech and silence there is a way out.\"\nI-tuan (\u7fa9\u7aef) one of Nan-ch'uan's\n great disciples (The Golden Age of Zen 250, 322 n.13)\n\u00a0\nInexpressible\n\u8aac\u4e0d\u8655\u7528\u7121\u76e1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What is inexpressible is\n inexhaustible in its use.\nA Chinese Zen master (The Golden Age of Zen 253, 322 n.19)\n\u00a0\nIndependent\n\u5be7\u53ef\u6c38\u5227\u53d7\u6c88\u6dea\u3001\u4e0d\u5f9e\u8af8\u8056\u6c42\u89e3\u8131\nI would rather sink to\n the bottom of the sea for endless eons than seek liberation through all the\n saints of the universe. Shih-t'ou (\u77f3\u982d) (The Golden Age of Zen 270, 323 n.57)\n\u00a0\n\u4e08\u592b\u81ea\u6709\u885d\u5929\u5fd7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The full-grown man\n aspires to pierce through the heavens:\n\u83ab\u5411\u5982\u593e\u884c\u8655\u884c\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let him not walk in\n the footsteps of the Buddha!\nTs'ui-yen (\u7fe0\u5dd6\u53ef\u771e) (The Golden Age of Zen\n 270, 323\n n.59)\n\u00a0\nBodhidharma's Definition of Zen\nFour Sacred Verses of Bodhidharma (Daruma no Shiseiku \u9054\u78e8\u56db\u8056\u53e5)\n\u6559\u5916\u5225\u50b3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ky\u00f5ge\n betsuden\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A special transmission outside the scriptures;\n\u4e0d\u7acb\u6587\u5b57\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fury\u00fb\n monji\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No\n dependence upon words and letters;\n\u76f4\u6307\u4eba\u5fc3\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jikishi\n ninshin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Direct\n pointing at the soul of man;\n\u898b\u6027\u6210\u4f5b\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Kensh\u00f5\n j\u00f5butsu\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Seeing\n into one's nature and the attainment of Buddhahood.\nBodhidharma (Essays in Zen Buddhism\n \u2013 First Series 176)\n\u00a0\nAccomplishing Beforehand\n\"When the task is done beforehand, then it\n is easy.\" Zen master Yuan-tong\n(The Tao of Abundance 100)\n\u00a0\nBegin at the Top\nIf you want to climb a mountain, begin at the\n top. Zen saying\n\u00a0\nEvery Day is a Good\n Day\n\u65e5\u65e5\u662f\u597d\u65e5\n\"Everyday is a good\n day.\" (Nichi nichi kore k\u00f5jitsu.)\nY\u00fcn-men (Unmon)\n Hekiganroku case 6\n\u00a0\nNo Work, No Eating\n\u4e00\u65e5\u4e0d\u4f5c\u3001\u4e00\u65e5\u4e0d\u98df\n\"A day without work, a day without\n eating.\"\n\"When there's no work for a day, there's no\n eating for a day.\" (The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth\n Patriarch 62)\nIchijitsu nasazareba, ichijitsu kuwarazu. (\u4e00\u65e5\u4f5c\u3055\u3056\u308c\u3070\u3001\u4e00\u65e5\u98df\u308f\u3089\u305a\u3002)\nPai-chang Huai-hai (\u767e\u4e08\u61f7\u6d77 Hyakuj\u00f5 Ekai,\n 720-814)\n\u00a0\nLiving Dead\n\u8a31\u591a\u6b7b\u6f22\u3001\u9001\u4e00\u500b\u6d3b\u6f22 What a\n long procession of dead bodies follows the wake of a single living person! Chao-chou Ts'ung-shen (\u8d99\u5dde\u5f9e\u8ad7J\u00f5sh\u00fb J\u00fbshin)\n\"At the funeral of one of his monks, as the\n Abbot joined the procession, he remarked, 'What a long procession of dead\n bodies follows the wake of a single living person!' \" (The Golden Age of\n Zen 145, 309 n.47)\n\u00a0\nMind is Buddha\nAsked \"What is buddha?\" (\u5982\u4f55[\u662f]\u4f5b) Ma-tsu replied \"This very mind, this is\n Buddha.\" (\u5373\u5fc3\u5373\u4f5b or \u5373\u5fc3\u662f\u4f5b. Sokushin sokubutsu.)\nMumonkan case 30 (The Development of Chinese Zen\n After the Sixth Patriarch 53)\n\u00a0\nNo Mind No Buddha\nAsked \"What is buddha?\" (\u5982\u4f55[\u662f]\u4f5b) Ma-tsu replied \"Neither mind nor\n Buddha.\" (\u975e\u5fc3\u975e\u4f5b. Hishin, hibutsu.)\nMumonkan case 33 (The Development of Chinese Zen\n After the Sixth Patriarch 53)\n\u00a0\nThis Very Mind is\n Buddha\n\u81ea\u5fc3\u662f\u4f5b Jishin\n zebutsu. \"Your own mind\u2014this is Buddha.\" Ma-tsu\n(The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth\n Patriarch 55)\n\u00a0\nNo Mind No Buddha Not a Thing\n\u4e0d\u662f\u5fc3\u4e0d\u662f\u4f5b\u4e0d\u662f\u7269 \"This is not mind,\n this is not Buddha, this is not a thing.\" (Fuzeshin, fuzebutsu,\n fuzemotsu.) Nan-ch\u00fcan (The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth\n Patriarch 55)\n\u00a0\nNo Clinging\n\u4e0d\u7740\u4e0d\u6c42 \"No\n clinging, no seeking.\" (Fujaku, fugu.) Pai-chang (Hyakuj\u00f5)\n\u00a0\nAll Dharmas are Mind-Created\n\u6545\u4e09\u754c\u552f\u5fc3 \"Therefore the\n Three Realms are only mind\" (Yue ni sangai yuishin) Ma-tsu Tao-i (The\n Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 54)\n\u6cd5\u754c\u4e00\u76f8 Ultimate\n reality has a unified form. (Fa-chieh\n i-hsiang./Hokkai iss\u00f5.) Buddha\n(Early Ch'an in China and Tibet 107)\n\u00a0\nGreat Tao\n\u4e0d\u4e8c\u5927\u9053 \"The\n non-dual Great Tao.\" (Funi Daid\u00f5) Chao-chou Ts'ung-sh\u00ean (\u8d99\u5dde\n J\u00f5sh\u00fb J\u00fbshin) (The Development of Chinese Zen After the\n Sixth Patriarch 61)\n\u00a0\nNo Delusive Thoughts\n\u5e55\u5984\u60f3 \"Away with your delusive thoughts!\" \"Don't be\n deluded!\" (Maku\n m\u00f5z\u00f5!)\nCh'an master Wu-ye (Mug\u00f5,\n 760-821) (Zen\n Word, Zen Calligraphy 65)\nWhatever the master was asked, he replied\n \"Maku m\u00f5z\u00f5!\"\n(I'm not sure about the first character \u5e55, it may be incorrect.)\n\u00a0\nWho is This\n\u4e0d\u8b58 [I] know not. (Fushiki.) Bodhidharma\n\u00a0\nNo Merit\n At All\n\u5ed3\u7136\u7121\u8056 Vast\n emptiness, nothing holy! (Kakunen mush\u00f5.)\n Bodhidharma\n\u00a0\nDropped\n\u8eab\u5fc3\u8131\u843d \"Body and mind\n dropped off.\" (Shen-hsin t'o-lo./Shinjin datsuraku.) D\u00f5gen\nD\u00f5gen's words describing his\n enlightenment (This is not a saying)\n(Zen Buddhism: A History\n vol. 2, 107 n.24)\n\u8eab\u5fc3\u8131\u843d \"Body and mind\n dropped away.\" (Zen Master Dogen 32)\n\u8eab\u5fc3\u8131\u843d (Casting off [both] body and mind.)\n\u00a0\nHui-neng's Enlightenment and Diamond Sutra\nFifth Patriarch Hung-jen (\u5f18\u5fcd\n Gunin or K\u00f5nin, 601-674) signed\n Hui-neng to go to his chamber at the third watch in the evening.\n\"When the two were face to face in the\n stillness of the night, the Patriarch expounded the Diamond Sutra to his disciple. When\n he came to the sentence: \"Keep your mind alive and free without abiding in\n anything or anywhere,\" Hui-neng was suddenly and thoroughly\n enlightened\" (The Golden Age of Zen 62)\n\u61c9\u7121\u6240\u4f4f\u800c\u751f\u5176\u5fc3 \"Keep\n your mind alive and free without abiding in anything or anywhere.\"\nDiamond S\u00fbtra (Vajracchedik\u00e2\n [Praj\u00f1a Paramita] S\u00fbtra) (The\n Golden Age of Zen 300 n.6)\n\"To awaken the mind\n without fixing it anywhere\" (Essays in Zen Buddhism \u2013 Second Series 32)\n_______________________________________________________________________________\n\u00a0\nNote on Sources\n1. Zenrin Kush\u00fb \u79aa\u6797\u53e5\u96c6 \"Ch'an lin lei ch\u00fc in twenty fasciculi\n compiled in the year 1307. The title means 'Zen materials (literally, woods)\n classified and collected'. The book is now very rare.\" (Essays in Zen Buddhism\n \u2013 Second Series 253 n.1)\nAlso see Watts, The Way\n of Zen 117 n.4; Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History vol. 2, 47 n.113","title":"Zen masters say \"Don't seek the truth - just drop your opinions","type":"page"}