Top 15 Ryōkan Quotes

Japanese Buddhist monk (1758–1831)

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Ryōkan (1758–1831) was an eccentric Sōtō Zen Buddhist monk who lived in Echigo, Japan, as a hermit, most famous for his poetry and calligraphy.

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Alternative Names: Ryokan • Ryoukan

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Keep your heart clear
And transparent,
And you will
Never be bound.
A single disturbed thought
Creates ten thousand distractions.

Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself.
Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;
a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.
Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?
Listening to the night rain on my roof,
I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.

Why do you so earnestly seek
the truth in distant places?
Look for delusion and truth in the
bottom of your own heart.

Someday I'll be a weather-beaten skull resting on a grass pillow,
Serenaded by a stray bird or two.
Kings and commoners end up the same,
No more enduring than last night's dream.

The plants and flowers
I raised about my hut
I now surrender
To the will
Of the wind

The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away,and the weather is clear again. If your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure... Then the moon and flowers will guide you along the Way

In all ten directions of the universe, there is only one truth. When we see clearly, the great teachings are the same. What can ever be lost? What can be attained? If we attain something, it was there from the beginning of time. If we lose something, it is hiding somewhere near us.

The thief left it behind:
the moon
at my window.

Good friends and excellent teachers - Stick close to them! Wealth and power are fleeting dreams but wise words perfume the world for ages.

In this world of dreams, drifting off still more; and once again speaking and dreaming of dreams. Just let it be.

When all thoughts
Are exhausted
I slip into the woods
And gather
A pile of shepherd's purse.

Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices
I, too, quietly
Turn clear and transparent.

"If there is beauty, there must be ugliness;
If there is right, there must be wrong.
Wisdom and ignorance are complementary,
And illusion and enlightenment cannot be separated.
This is an old truth, don't think it was discovered recently.
"I want this, I want that"
Is nothing but foolishness.
I'll tell you a secret -
"All things are impermanent!

See and realize that this world is not permanent. Neither late nor early flowers will remain.

How can we ever lose interest in life? Spring has come again
And cherry trees bloom in the mountains.

The flower invites the butterfly with no-mind;
The butterfly visits the flower with no-mind.
The flower opens, the butterfly comes;
The butterfly comes, the flower opens.
I don't know others,
Others don't know me.
By not-knowing we follow nature's course