Zen Confidential Quotes

“In the Buddhist view, I depend on you for my existence. All things depend on each other, equally. Welcome to the doctrine of dependent origination. It’s teeter-totter metaphysics—I arise, you arise; you arise, I arise. Forget about our presumed Maker, the divine machinist in the sky. Take a look at this moment right now. You are you because you are not something else; therefore, what you are not—the chair beneath you, the air in your lungs, these words—births you through an infinity of opposites. It’s like the ultimate Dr. Seuss riddle: Without all the things that are not you, who would you be you to? There’s no Higher Power in this system to grab on to for support; we are all already supporting each other. Pull a person or people the wrong way and you immediately redefine yourself in light of what you’ve done to your neighbor.”
― Shozan Jack Haubner, Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk

“you are meant to grow into a true human being. Right now you are to a human being what an acorn is to an oak tree. A good start, that’s all. You’ve got a long way to go, baby, and you’re not going to grow into your full potential sitting in front of the laptop, bag of Cool Ranch Doritos in one hand, dick in the other, anime porn boring a hole in your corneas and consciousness. Just a thought.”
― Shozan Jack Haubner, Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk

“Maybe I was in the actual real time situation after all and pain was just a part of it. I was in the moment. The moment just sucked. Just because you hurt doesn't mean you're doing something wrong. That you're weak, dumb, selfish or hopelessly screwed up. If life is suffering, then pain simply means that you're alive. The excruciating ache in my heart was proof that there was blood beating in there. Zen practice, like life itself, is not about floating above your problems but passing through them.”
― Shozan Jack Haubner, Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk

“Without the human world, Heaven or the spiritual life, is just a dream. And without Heaven or spirituality, the human world is a nightmare. The two hold each other in balance. This is the Middle Way. Not getting stuck in a dream, not getting stuck in a nightmare. But fully and completely waking up right at the zero point where the two meet. Dream and nightmare. Pray and play. Pleasure and worship. Friday night fucking and Sunday morning sacraments.”
― Shozan Jack Haubner, Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk

“people in your life don’t get in the way of your spiritual practice; these people are your spiritual practice.”
― Shozan Jack Haubner, Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk

“The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate. That is to say, when the individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner contradictions, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn in two opposite halves.”
― Shozan Jack Haubner, Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk

“But drugs are like old lovers: you think you’re completely over them, and then the two of you find yourselves alone in a room together once more, and a rush of lust sends your stomach through the floor as your tongue glides from your mouth to greet the forbidden fruit all over again.”
― Shozan Jack Haubner, Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk