As one lamp serves to dispel a thousand years of darkness, so one flash of wisdom destroys ten thousand years of ignorance.
By amending our mistakes, we get wisdom. By defending our faults, we betray an unsound mind.
A finger points at the moon, but the moon is not at the tip of the finger. Words points at the truth, but the truth is not in words.
The complete teachings of all Buddhas – past, present, and future – are to be found within the essence of every human being.
The meaning of life is to see.
The secret is within your self.
Sit all together in meditation. Become peacefully calm and quiet, without motion, without stillness, without birth, without destruction, without coming or going, with no judgments of right or wrong, neither staying nor going. This, then, is the Great Way.
The truth is to be lived, not just mouthed.
Truth has nothing to do with words. Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky. Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger can point to the moon’s location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger, right?
Zazen is seated meditation-the opposite of contemplation-the emptying of the mind of all thoughts in order simply to be. In the midst of all evil, not a thought is aroused in the mind-this is called za. Seeing into one’s Self-nature, not being moved at all-this is called Zen.
Confused by thoughts, we experience duality in life. Unencumbered by ideas, the enlightened see the one Reality.
Before you think good or evil, who are you?
Words are not truth. Truth is like the moon, and words are like my finger. I can point to the moon with my finger, but my finger is not the moon. Do you need my finger to see the moon?
Within our impure mind the pure one is to be found.
It is your minds that are moving.
Since in reality all is void, Whereon can the dust fall?
Because wisdom is innate, we can all enlighten ourselves.