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DON’T PUT OFF WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY. You cannot regret the future.
would like to depart this world thinking that my life has been a good one.
DON’T THINK OF UNPLEASANT THINGS RIGHT BEFORE BED. A five-minute “bed zazen” before going to sleep
When you get into bed, let go of whatever happened to you since waking up that morning, and be thankful for having made it through another day.
Don’t go chasing after clouds—you will never catch them.
Simply work hard to do today what needs to be done. And fortune will surely come your way.
DON’T BE TROUBLED BY THINGS THAT HAVE NOT YET HAPPENED. Anxiety is intangible.
“Anxiety” was a thing within his mind. In reality, it was intangible.
There is no need to be troubled by things that have not yet happened. Think only about what is happening right now. Almost all anxieties are intangible. They are the invention of your own mind.
Joy is to be found within yourself.
“Be the master wherever you go. Then, wherever you find yourself, things will be as they truly are.”
Stop dismissing what it is that you’re doing, and start living.
Whatever it is you’re doing, be grateful for the opportunity.
Everything we do as human beings is precious.
You have the leading role in your work. If you approach work with this attitude, all work becomes meaningful and invaluable.
DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS.
In anything, the hard part is just to keep going.
“The work I’m doing now is my true calling.”
repeat the same things every day, and the lesson is to be found in the repetition itself.
SEEK NOT WHAT YOU LACK.
Be content with the here and now.
What you see now is the cumulative result of steadily working away at ordinary tasks.
Be the person who has that kind of attitude. It will be rewarded.
We live in a time of constant information, available anytime and anywhere.
What’s left is time to relax. To enjoy your home life. This is surely the best way to relieve stress.
when you sit zazen, you enter an alpha state, with the brain waves associated with relaxation taking over.
Attending a zazenkai is an opportunity to sweep the detritus from your mind.
PLANT A SINGLE FLOWER. No day is more important than today.
In the world of nature, every day is a new day.
when you grow a flower from seed, you become aware that nothing and no one can remain in the same place.
The garden is never the same from one day to the next.
“Every day is new, and new again tomorrow.”
The preoccupations of today will end today. Tomorrow there will be a new you. This is why...
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Once you take a step into misfortune, you can get caught in a downward spiral.
Cut off misfortune when it begins.
take advantage of good fortune. That is the secret to a good life.
Namely, when you’re uncertain, simplicity is the best way to go.
Zen saying about samadhi, the state of intense concentration achieved through meditation: Ichigyo zanmai. It means “Strive for just one thing.”
DO NOT FEAR CHANGE. Cast off your attachment to the past.
There is beauty to be found in change.
brief scattering of petals is itself graceful. It is a constant and ever-changing scene. And the beauty of it all is captivating.
What the Japanese prize most is the fragility of the cherry blossoms’ beauty.
blossoms are lovely because of their evanescence—we sense in them the...
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Everything is constantly in flux. There are changes as we age and changes in our surroundings. There is nothing to fear in these changes.
Rather than lament change, it finds new beauty and hope in it. That is a life to which to aspire.
Zen monks generally rise every day at four in the morning.
kyoten, or “dawn,” zazen.
Bedtime—kaichin, or “opening the pillow”—is at nine in the evening.
seven hours of sleep. We lead a very regu...
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Your mood today may not be the same as it was yesterday.
