#zen

Haiku is not a shriek, a howl, a sigh, or a yawn; rather, it is the deep breath of life. ↗

— Santoka Taneda

#creating #haiku #japanese #poetry #zen

To have some deep feeling about Buddhism is not the point; we just do what we should do, like eating supper and going to bed. This is Buddhism. ↗

— Shunryu Suzuki

#life-philosophy #phlilosophy #zen-buddhism #life

Your life is your practice. Your spiritual practice does not occur someplace other than in your life right now, and your life is nowhere other than where you are. You are looking for answers, insight, and wisdom that you already possess. Live the life in front of you, be the life you are, and see what you find out for yourself. ↗

— Karen Maezen Miller

#spirituality #zen #life

Life gives you exactly what you need to awaken. ↗

— T. Scott McLeod

#buddhism #enlightenment #spiritual-journey #spiritual-journeys #spirituality

Suffering builds character and impels you to penetrate life’s secrets. It’s the path of great artists, great religious leaders, great social reformers. The problem is not suffering per se, but rather our identification with our own ego: our divided, dualistic, cramped view of things. ‘We are too ego-centered,’ Suzuki tells Cage.’ The ego-shell in which we live is the hardest thing to outgrow. We seem to carry it all the time from childhood up to the time we finally pass away. ↗

— Kay Larson

#individual #life #mind #self #suffering

I don’t know where I’m going on this path. I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. You had to be lost, before you could be found. These are the truths. You had to be confused, before you could find clarity; you had to suffer, before you could find peace. These were the only ways, life could happen. Of course you were confused before you found clarity. If you weren't confused, then you would already be clear. Of course you were lost before you were found. If you were already found, then you wouldn't be lost. Of course there would be suffering before peace. If there was already peace, then there wouldn't be suffering. One necessarily came before the other. ↗

— T. Scott McLeod

#buddhism #confusion #enlightenment #finding-one-s-way #meditation

[Y]ou are here to learn something. Don’t try to figure out what it is. This can be frustrating and unproductive. ↗

— Steven L. Peck

#existentialism #frustration #hell #life #wisdom

The world is filled with love-play, from animal lust to sublime compassion. ↗

— Alan Wilson Watts

#sex #zen #love

It is the rub that polishes the jewel,” Enso Roshi says. “Nobody ever gets to nirvana without going through samsara. Nobody ever gets to heaven, without going through hell. The center of all things, the truth, is surrounded by demons. ↗

— T. Scott McLeod

#enlightenment #love #meditation #peace #spiritual-journey

The love of nature is religion, and that religion is poetry; these three things are one thing. This is the unspoken creed of haiku poets. ↗

— R.H. Blyth

#zen #love