Zen Battles Quotes

“Often, we live a life of compromise so that there's peace in the house. We buy a small peace so that we can get through the day. And if we live like that then we aren't a great person, but a cracked vase, unable to contain the rice soup.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“We have to practice continuously and not just superficially. It can't be done half-heartedly. We have to be determined to grasp our mind. A period of continuous diligent practice will surely lead to transformation”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“The universe and the person who creates the universe are not two different entities. Some Christian theologians say that God is the ground of being. This is quite close to Buddhism. But then Buddhism asks the question, "If God is the ground of being, then what is the ground of nonbeing?”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“Dharma talks aren't the truth. The true Dharma exists in the mind of the students as seeds and the Dharma talks are just like a little cloud that releases rain and causes the seeds in the mind of the practitioners to sprout and manifest.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“The mind is like a sharp knife that cuts reality into separate pieces.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“Master Linji used language that was particularly harsh and strong to remind the monks in clear terms that the only role of a practitioner is to live simply, as an ordinary person, and not to put on airs. This is still a fundamental challenge for us today.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“The people who wrote down the Bible and the people who wrote down the Mahayana sutras were artists. They used images to express their insights.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“People don't dare let go of the mind, they grasp onto the mind. They can let go of the objects of the mind, but they don't dare to let go of the mind. Why? We're afraid of falling into a place where we think there will be nothing to feel, to touch, to pick up, afraid we'll have nothing left. But emptiness doesn't mean nothingness.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“Ordinary people tend to be caught by the object of the mind, and practitioners of the Path tend to be caught by the mind itself. When both the mind and the object are removed, once both the mind and the objects of the mind are overcome, then there is the true Dharma.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“We tend to focus on the object and call it reality. We don't notice how our mind intervenes in our perception.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“Many of us, both monastics and laypeople, learn about the Buddhadharma without anything changing in our life. Our personality remains exactly the same because we cannot digest and apply what we've learned. What we've learned doesn't help us and so we can't help anyone. Zen doesn't travel along a path of learning through writing and words; it relies on direct transmission between teacher and student.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“In Vietnamese, there's a proverb that says, "When you love, you use the cane. When you hate, you use your sweet kind words.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“Our moods fluctuate and we identify ourselves with these feelings. When we're sad, we say, "I'm sad." When we're happy, we say, "I'm happy." But our true person is not those things, nor is it something outside of them.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“We have a great bagful of labels we don't even know where they came from. And when we stick them onto people, we cut ourselves off from those people, and we can no longer know who they really are.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“The Buddha teaches us that we have to master ourselves first. Before we can act, we have to cool these coals beneath us. To succeed doesn't mean triumphing over the one who causes us to suffer, but over our own ignorance and resentment. No matter what has been done to us or how we've been wronged, we're always responsible for at least fifty percent of our suffering, perhaps more.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“A monk or a nun leaves their home and family behind and renounces all previous attachments to become a free person. At least in form, a monastic is on the Path, whereas in content, he may not have left the house yet. Even though he wears the robe of a monk and his head is shaved, he may not have given up reaching for worldly, material, and emotional comforts. But a person living the life of a layperson who has left the house has, in essence, become a monastic. That means their mind is quiet; they have let go of everything.

Between these two people, which one deserves to receive offerings from gods and humans?”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“When we've accumulated so much knowledge inside, we don't have the capacity to digest it. It's like when we eat too much food, we can't digest it and we become constipated.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“The person who has nothing to do doesn't need to put on airs or leave any trace behind.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji

“Many of us have spent our whole lives learning, questioning, and searching. But even on the path of enlightenment, if all we do is study, we're wasting our time and that of our teacher.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Battles: Modern Commentary on the Teachings of Master Linji