Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Don't think of us as separate beings. Imagine that we are one body and it's been split into millions. When we sit in the mediation hall - that is unity
When you sit with an enlightened teacher physically, the teacher moves in and out of different states of mind. That is how you learn to do it yourself.
The world is futile when viewed through the persona of the body. The body is not simply the physical body but it's the body of knowledge of this world.
It is much nicer to live in perfect mind, free from pain and agony. How painful it is to be unenlightened. Buddha called it "the nightmare of the day."
Zen is a very fast path to enlightenment, fast in comparison to some other paths, not fast for the person who practices it. There is no sense of speed.
I liked my teacher very much and after some years of mediation, I began to teach meditation, referring all things that I didn't know to my own teacher.
A realistic recognition of the human condition is that it is corrupt beyond belief. What do you suppose would happen if the police all took a week off?
This is the age of electrical energy. The age of atomic energy hasn't really dawned yet, not in the way that atomic energy has evolved in other worlds.
People are under the assumption that the kundalini just flows from the base of the spine up. That's not the case at all. Kundalini also flows downward.
We pass through hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of existences. In each lifetime, we're exploring another part of our own self, which is eternity.
Some people speak of the Akashic Records as if they were on an IBM mainframe that's out there somewhere near the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
We believe that we decide. We do make decisions. But the deeper decisions come from another part of our being that we're not particularly aware of yet.
Happiness is in the mind and the mind is the universe. Your mind is the universe, not just this physical universe that you perceive through your senses.
I understand your higher and lower tendencies. There is something beyond all of this nonsense. There is a wonderful glitter that you can follow in life.
You draw the mystical kundalini from the earth. Earth is an element. Fire, air, earth, water, and ether - the mystical kundalini comes through them all.
Go out into the world, do your best all day, try to think higher thoughts, try to be kind and compassionate, but don't let people take advantage of you.
When your thoughts come and you're trying to stop them, simply say "No". Learn the mantra "No". Every time a thought comes in your mind ... just say no.
In the Bhagavad-Gita, a dialogue ensues in the middle of a battlefield, symbolizing the battlefield of life which we are fighting through our illusions.
Tonight I have inundated you with the mystical kundalini. Now, of course, I'm moving into the supra-conscious; it's kind of a doubleheader this evening.
If we immerse ourselves in the ultimate good, we will have this silly smile on our face or perhaps just inside our hearts. That is what illumination is.
Don't be afraid of losing a little power in daily associations. People who seek power and knowledge aren't misers. They aren't afraid. That is paranoid.
Granted, in order to give selflessly, one often starts giving selfishly. As Tiresias said to Odysseus: "Honey ... you don't get through hell in a hurry"
If you look deeply inside them you'll only see eternity; whereas with most human beings, when you look inside, you'll see all kinds of different things.
When you abuse willpower you waste it. There really is not an infinite supply of it at your disposal. There is an infinite supply of it in the universe.
In the universe, there is darkness and light. We call this duality. When you seek knowledge and power, there are forces and people that will oppose you.
Through the experience of memory, you recall what you have done, and you therefore attach yourself to it and perceive yourself through prior experience.
Tantra is not for a hedonist at all. It won't work. If you're heavily attracted to sensual experiences, tantra will definitely not be of any use to you.
An enlightened person lives in the world, passes through the ten thousand states of mind, but they are not bound by them. They can go beyond perception.
This is a world of unhappy beings. They don't understand how simple it is to be happy. You just have to practice meditation. To meditate is to be happy.
In the study of Zen you can learn how to strengthen and clarify your finite mind. Your finite mind is like a muscle; when exercised it becomes stronger.
Some people meditate because they are sick and tired of their life, of the world, of the way people abuse each other and abrogate each other's freedoms.
With a teacher it is necessary to be sensitive to their directions; most of the time they won't say much. You have to be still and silent to understand.
You remember, you are drawn back to the pathway to enlightenment, to meditation, and when you begin to meditate your past life knowledge returns to you.
There is a way to open up the chakras, there is a mystical way. But if you do that, you'll get yourself into very hot water, and it's ultimately slower.
If you're very liberal, then you should go and find a very liberal Zen teacher, a liberal interpretation of the doctrines of the Soto or Rinzai schools.
There are seven primary chakras located in the subtle physical body, the body of light and energy that is our awareness and that surrounds the physical.
Sometimes I think death is a greater awareness than life. Life gives us the illusion of immortality, whereas death gives us the certainty of immortality
Wisdom, in the world of enlightenment, is not gained through conversation. Wisdom and enlightenment is something that you gain by making the mind still.
Samsara is the world appearance, the cycle of rebirth, the physically manifest universes and states of mind that you perceive through the medium of ego.
When you cause something to happen it causes a shift in your awareness. Shifts in your awareness ultimately will result in a pattern shift in your life.
The person who's in the Zen monastery, who's doing a kind of poor job at meditating and a half-ass job cleaning the gardens is not doing very good yoga.
Most people we observe who practice self-discovery just get caught up in a new description, a new "ism", a new religion, a new god. But nothing changes.
Gods and goddesses are not what people think they are. Their names are terms with which we try to convey a certain experience, a state of consciousness.
When you die you pass into inner worlds and continue to perceive. Death is not the dissolution of the self. Death is rather just a change in perception.
Perception is a wave. You change as your perception of something changes because you define yourself as a reflection of whatever you happen to perceive.
The way you increase your energy is by letting go, ultimately. There is something inside you that knows what it should do, and you fight it all the time.
Loneliness is a feeling that is created by our ego. The ego feels separate from the rest of creation. The answer to overcoming those feelings is ecstasy.
Sri Krishna's message is the message of anyone who comes from far away. His message is the same as Buddha, Lao Tsu, Bodhidharma, Milarepa, Padmasambhava.
Samadhi is perfect absorption to the point where there is no sense of being absorbed, not the consciousness of knowing that you are having an experience.
Nature gives constantly to us. We as indendepent egos think we're important. Selfless giving has to do with overcoming the ego. The ego makes us unhappy.