#zen

...we're constantly waking up to what we're about, what we're really doing in our lives. And the fact is, that's painful. But there's no possibility of freedom without this pain. ↗

— Charlotte Joko Beck

#pain #realization #zen-buddhism #freedom

And it is undeniably true that the greatest and most important right of a British subject is that he shall be governed by no laws but those to which he, either in person or by his representatives, hath given his consent; and this, I will venture to assert, is the great basis of British freedom; it is interwoven with the Constitution, and whenever this is lost, the Constitution must be destroyed. ↗

— Joseph Warren

#american-revolution #citizenship #constitution #freedom

Because even among contrarians, I’m a contrarian. But all of this is just words of bronze, third place rhetoric. What do I really mean when I say we want to shock society into awareness? Do we mean we want more originality and individuality? Less TV, more reading, writing, actual thinking? Less sheep, more shepherd pie? Yes, yes, and a little more pie, please. Oh, and some more sweet tea, too ↗

— Jarod Kintz

#funny #humor #individuality #originality #reading

Silence is the language of Om. We need silence to be able to reach our Self. Both internal and external silence is very important to feel the presence of that supreme Love. ↗

— Amit Ray

#love #meditation #om #silence #zen

Life is a journey. Time is a river. The door is ajar ↗

— Jim Butcher

#life #metaphor #zen #humor

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