The Heart of Being Quotes

“We constantly need to be reminded not to attach to anything.”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism

“As long as we blame, as long as we avoid or deny, we remove from the realm of possibility the power to do something about our lives. We become totally dependent upon the ups and downs we create around us.”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism

“When we realize the ground of being, we take responsibility directly, because what we realize is that what we do and what happens to us are the same thing.”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism

“The causes of evil karma are greed, anger, and ignorance—the three poisons. We create karma through action, by what we do with our body, words, and thoughts. In atoning we take full and unequivocal responsibility for it all. When we do that, we empower ourself. It becomes our evil karma, not someone else’s. We acknowledge ourself as an active agent, not a passive victim. We begin to recognize that our life is not just something that happens to us.”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism

“Before we can appreciate kie-ei we need to appreciate what it is we are relying upon and unreservedly throwing ourselves into—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Usually we understand Buddha to be the historical Buddha. From an inclusive perspective, we say that all beings are Buddha. Also, Buddha is the teacher. We see Dharma as being the teachings of the Buddha, the medicine to heal the sickness, and sometimes it is the ten thousand things. We understand Sangha as the practitioners of the Buddha’s Dharma, our companions along the way, and we also understand it as the whole phenomenal universe, all sentient beings.”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism

“All evil karma ever committed by me since of old, Because of my beginningless greed, anger, and ignorance, Born of my body, mouth, and thought, Now I atone for it all.”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism

“Chanting and invoking are worlds apart. Chanting is done with the mouth; invoking is done with the mind. And because invoking comes from the mind, it is called a door to awareness. Chanting is centered in the mouth and appears as sound. If you cling to appearances while searching for meaning, you won’t find a thing.”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism

“Karma knows nothing about good and evil, it just assures that the chain of cause and effect continues.”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism

“All evil karma ever committed by me since of old, Because of my beginningless greed, anger, and ignorance, Born of my body, mouth, and thought, Now I atone for it all.”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism

“What would it be like if the highly visible figures in the life of a nation started to set examples of moderation and humility rather than excessiveness and arrogance?”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism

“Buddha said that if you want to eradicate crime, the economic conditions of the people have to be improved.”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism

“that we may each hear the calling of the bell, live more fully in reality, and nourish one another with wisdom’s complete confidence and compassion’s tender and soothing hands.”
― John Daido Loori, The Heart of Being: Moral and Ethical Teachings of Zen Buddhism