Dōgen Quotes

Be very clear about this: A fool sees himself as another, but a wise man sees others as himself.49 As an ancient teacher has said: Two-thirds of our days are already over, And we have not practiced clarifying who we are. We waste our days in chasing satisfaction, So that even when called, we refuse to turn around. How regrettable.50

Those who regard worldly affairs as a hindrance to buddha dharma think only that there is no buddha dharma in the secular world; they do not understand that there is no secular world in buddha dharma.

Zazen is not learning to do concentration. It is the dharma gate of great ease and joy. It is undivided practice-realization.

Although there is birth and death in each moment of this life of birth and death, the body after the final body is never known. Even though you do not know it, if you arouse the aspiration for enlightenment, you will move forward on the way of enlightenment. The moment is already here. Do not doubt it in the least. Even if you should doubt it, this is nothing but everyday mind.

who can express the state of having already attained the ineffable?

It does not matter whether you are a layperson or a home leaver. Those who can discern excellence invariably come to trust in this practice.

To study the way of enlightenment is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.

Focus your mind on one thing, absorb the old examples, study the actions of the masters- penetrate deeply into a single form of practice.

Not to encounter a true teacher will result in being led around by your feelings and emotions. The case of the foolish son of a wealthy man leaving home with the family treasure and throwing it away like so much rubbish is truly a pathetic one.51 Likewise, to the extent that we are familiar with what the work of the tenzo is we must not squander it.

Without practice, the buddha way cannot be attained. Without study, it remains remote.

Because earth, grass, trees, walls, tiles, and pebbles in the world of phenomena in the ten directions all engage in buddha activity, those who receive the benefits of the wind and water are inconceivably helped by the buddha's transformation, splendid and unthinkable, and intimately manifest enlightenment.Those who receive these benefits of water and fire widely engage in circulating the buddha's transformation based on original realization.

Loving fame is worse than breaking a precept. Breaking a precept is a transgression at a particular time. Loving fame is like an ailment of a lifetime.

Although we say mountains belong to the country, actually, they belong to those that love them.

You should not be esteemed by others if you have no real inner virtue. People here in Japan esteem others on the basis of outward appearances, without knowing anything about real inner virtue; so students lacking the spirit of the Way are dragged down into bad habits and become subject to temptation.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.