Taisen Deshimaru Quotes

Japanese Zen Master (1914–1982)

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Taisen Deshimaru (29 November 1914 – 30 April 1982) was a Japanese Sōtō Zen Buddhist teacher. His experiences led him to Bangka Island, where he taught zazen to the Chinese, Indonesian, and European inhabitants of the island. The island was under the attack of the Japanese Occupational Army, who were executing large numbers of the inhabitants indiscriminately. Feeling a plight for the people of Bangka, Deshimaru eventually took up their cause and was quickly labeled a rebel by the Japanese Army and thrown in prison. Shortly before he was due for execution, high Japanese officials released him and the other prisoners waiting to be killed. Following this, he was placed in an American POW camp in Singapore until he was released months later. He died in 1982, after having solidly established Zen practice in the West.

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Alternative Names: Deshimaru Deshimaru Roshi Deshimaru Taisen

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We should learn to think with our fingers.

When the mind is free, everything around it is free.

Think with your whole body.

We feel our shell keeps us safe, but it crushes us and others, and keeps out light and sun.

You must not take out your sword because if you try to kill someone, you must die for it yourself. What you must do instead is kill yourself, kill your own mind.

You have to practice until you die.

La vie et la mort sont identiques.

Your world and the cat's world are not the same.

You are the strongest and the others keep their distance. It is no longer necessary to win victories over them.

"Hai finito di mangiare?"
"Sì, Maestro, ho finito."
"Allora, va' a lavare le stoviglie!"

Ici et maintenant, les autres ne sont pas moi, je ne suis pas les autres. Si je ne pratique pas, je ne peux pas comprendre. Si quelqu'un d'autre fait, je ne peux pas être dans ce qu'il fait.

If you are not happy here and now, you never will be.

Everything in the universe is connected
Everything is osmosis
You cannot separate any part from the whole
Interdependence rules the cosmic order.

If you have a glass full of liquid you can discourse forever on its qualities, discuss whether it is cold, warm, whether it is really and truly composed of H-2-O, or even mineral water, or saki. Meditation is Drinking it!

Harmonizing opposites by going back to their source is the distinctive quality of the Zen attitude, the Middle Way: embracing contradictions, making a synthesis of them, achieving balance.