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No one can find your meaning for you. Not even the master.
No one ever became drunk on the word wine.
The words of the scholar are to be understood. The words of the master are not to be understood. They are to be listened to as one listens to the wind in the trees and the sound of the river and the song of the bird. They will awaken something within the heart that is beyond all knowledge.
An elephant will sooner fit into the trunks of a rat than God will fit into our notions of him.
“You’re different so there’s something wrong with you!”
The sun that gives sight to the eagle blinds the owl.
Two persons walked into religion. One came alive, the other drowned.
Stop searching, little fish. There isn’t anything to look for. All you have to do is look.
The Zen masters put it succinctly: “The one who knows, does not say. The one who says, does not know.”
When the divine is experienced, one’s propensity to theorize is considerably reduced.
There is nothing that the rigid believer cannot find an explanation for.
The seeker says, “I do not know.” That takes honesty. The Master says, “I do not know.” That takes a mystic’s mind that knows things through nonknowing. The disciple says, “I know.” That takes ignorance, in the form of borrowed knowledge.
The existence of God created more problems than it solved; life after death was a piece of wishful thinking; the scriptures and tradition had done as much harm as good. All of these things were invented to soften the loneliness and the despair of human life.
Faith is the fearless search for truth. So it is not lost when one questions one’s beliefs.
The expert misses the obvious. The chief priest misses the Messiah.
Bad religion gives him faith in the medal. Good religion gets him to see that ghosts do not exist.
When neurotics come to you for help, they seldom seek to be healed, for healing is painful. What they really want is to be made comfortable in their neuroses. Or, best of all, they yearn for a miracle that will heal them painlessly.
heaven’s sake, Pa! You’ve set your whiskers on fire.” “I know it,” answered the old man angrily. “Can’t you see I’m praying for rain?”
you who are in the path of error, open your eyes to the truth! Follow the example of the tiger and stop imitating the disabled fox.”
“Why do you permit this? Why don’t you do something?” For a while God said nothing. That night he replied, quite suddenly, “I certainly did something. I made you.”
visit. The angel returned with his report. “Most of them lack food,” he said, “and most of them lack employment.” God said, “Then I shall become incarnate in the form of food for the hungry and work for the unemployed.”
have always dropped out for the best of reasons: to reform the liturgy, to change Church structures, to update the study of scripture, and to make theology relevant. Religious activity is my favorite escape from God. THE JOB Enter first applicant.
What kind of saint or freedom fighter are you if you are still asleep?
“Here I am with you,” says God, “and you keep reflecting about me in your head, talking about me with your tongue, and searching for me in your books When will you shut up and see?”
Keep your goods and abandon the “I.” Don’t burn your body; burn the ego. Love will automatically follow.
Your nothing can be your most valued possession.
“The act of sinning is much less harmful than the desire and thought of it.
It is one thing for the body to indulge in a pleasurable act for a moment, and an entirely different thing for the mind and heart to chew on it endlessly.”
Each time I chew on the sins of others, I suspect the chewing gives me more pleasure than th...
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When the industrialist had a heart attack from pushing his industrial empire it was easy to show him his greed and selfishness. When the priest had a heart attack from pushing the Kingdom of God it was impossible to show him that this was greed and selfishness in another, more respectable disguise.
To really know. That is, to be transformed by what one knows.
was afraid. I should find an accusation there of some unrepented sin. I thought I should find a demand there; there would be something he wanted from me.
One day I finally summoned up courage and looked! There was no accusation. There was no demand. The eyes just said, “I love you.”
And I walked out and, like Peter, I wept.
When you seek a recompense your gift becomes a bribe.
Love keeps no record of wrongs
When I set out to edify, I seek to impress—and become a well-intentioned Pharisee!
“Then go tell the emperor that neither would I. For no one can be alive on a pedestal.”
The price you pay for veneration is conformity.
The man dropped into a seat and sighed with relief as he said to himself, “Thank goodness, I’ve found my crowd at last.” Attempts to hide your streakiness will sometimes be successful, always dishonest.
fail to understand why saints—and lovers—behave the way they do. So I’m waiting for my heart to come alive.
Husband: “I’m going to work hard, and someday we are going to be rich.” Wife: “We are already rich, dear, for we have each other. Someday maybe we’ll have money.”
Which would you rather have: a fortune or a capacity for enjoyment?
only brings with it the compulsion to hoard. Go and give it back to the ghost this minute and you will be happy again.”
You have all the time in the world, if you would give it to yourself. What’s stopping you?
“Rabbi, where is your furniture?” asked the tourist. “Where is yours?” replied Hafez. “Mine? But I’m only a visitor here.” “So am I,” said the rabbi.
Said the crow, “I’ve lost the meat and gained this peaceful sky.” Said a Zen monk, “When my house burned down I got an unobstructed view of the moon at night!” WHO CAN STEAL THE MOON!
Ryokan sat down naked and watched the moon. “Poor fellow,” he thought to himself, “I wish I could give him the gorgeous moonlight”
head. He took the diamond and walked away. All night he tossed about in bed, unable to sleep. Next day at the crack of dawn he woke the sannyasi and said, “Give me the wealth that makes it possible for you to give this diamond away so easily.”
Years passed and he could not make up his mind what to ask for: life or health or wealth or power or love. Finally he said to the Lord, “Please advise me on what to ask for.” The Lord laughed when he saw the man’s predicament, and said, “Ask to be content no matter what you get.” THE WORLD FAIR OF RELIGIONS My friend and I went to the fair.
