The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts Quotes

“When you know yourself, you will be clear within and keep yourself well in check. Thus, there will be no reason for anyone to come and be your opponent. Even if your knowledge is insufficient and you make mistakes, it will not be your fault. Just entrust things to Heaven.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“Man is a moving being. If he does not move to what is good, he will surely move to that what is not. If this consciousness does not arise here, another consciousness will arise there. Man's mind goes through multifarious changes and never stops.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts

“Nowadays, people are shallow and their resolution is not in earnest. They dislike the strenuous and love the easy from the time they are young. When they see something vaguely clever, they want to learn it right away; but if taught in the manner of the old ways, they think it not worth learning. Nowadays, the way is revealed by the instructor, the deepest principles are taught even to beginners, the end result is set right out in front, and the student is led along by the hand.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“We are the gods of poverty, but why should we be ashamed in front of those gods of good fortune? We and they, all of us, have our own fates. Not only that, but while they are on friendly terms with emperors, aristocrats, feudal lords, the privileged class and, yes, wealthy townspeople, and provide them with different kinds of luxury and splendor, they’re not intimate with men of virtue at all.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“and a person who worries over something he can do nothing about is an extraordinary fool.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“But when the smallest thing enters your mind, form will appear. And when there is form, there will be an opponent and there will be yourself. Facing each other, there will be conflict; and in a situation like this, the mysterious functions of change and metamorphosis will not occur with freedom. First, your mind will fall into thoughts of death and you will lose all clarity of spirit. How then will you stand readily and with resolve for a fight? Even if you should win, it would be what is called a blind victory, and this is not the true object of the art of swordsmanship.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“The wise and sagacious men of ancient times had the very spirit of the martial and did not kill.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“A person who walks well does not move his body from his waist up, but rather walks with his legs. Thus, his body is serene, his internal organs are not stressed, and he is not worn out. You should observe the manner in which men carry heavy loads.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“You should sit, concentrating inwardly for a while in the Nio-zazen style of Shozan,57 controlling your ch’i. This is not necessarily a matter of lighting an incense stick, fixing a time period, or sitting in the correct Buddhist zazen posture. It is just sitting in your usual fashion, in a proper posture, and enlivening your ch’i. You should train yourself to sit like this for a little while several times a day whenever you have some free time. If you do this, your sinews and bones will be measured and coordinated, your blood will flow without obstruction, your ch’i will have substance, and illnesses will disappear of themselves.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“This is like a boat following a current downstream. Though you can say that it moves, the boat is at rest and there is no trace of that movement. This is called ‘moving without moving.’36”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“The demon said, “The Way cannot be seen or heard. What can be seen or heard are just the traces of the Way. But you will be enlightened about what has no traces by the traces themselves. This is called ‘receiving it on your own.’ If Learning is not receiving it on your own, it will have no function. Though swordsmanship is just a trivial art, it uses the essence of mind and, extended to its most fundamental principle, merges with the Way.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“Upon hearing that all phenomena are but a reflection of the mind, their minds were suddenly opened and their spirits settled; they let go of what they had depended on and gained total freedom of action.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“envelop the universe by means of my mind; and by means of the universe, there is nothing that obstructs my mind. Riches and honor, good luck and calamity are elsewhere. When you seek after such things, you may obtain them or you may not—this is not something that is guaranteed. The Greatest Happiness is within yourself. If you seek your mind wholeheartedly, you will obtain it for sure. Simply, do not seek after illusion.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“Take this single tree. They could cut it down and make half of it into an incense tray, decorate it with lacquer set with gold or silver filigree, and set it in an alcove of an aristocrat or man of high rank as a tasteful ornament. The other half they could make into wooden clogs for stepping through the mud. When you look at the two different shapes, one is admired while the other is considered mean, but they’re the same in terms of the cutting down of a living tree.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“When you gamble for tiles, you are skillful. When you gamble for your belt buckle, you begin to hesitate; and when you gamble for gold, you get confused. Your skill is the same, but you get cautious because you value something outside yourself. When you do this you become awkward inside."
Lieh Tzu, Chapter 2”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts

“The scriptures are within yourself; [those that are written down] only point out what you have not been able to see on your own.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“What I am calling ‘Not One Thing’ means neither being taken by nor drawn toward phenomena, that there is neither opponent nor myself,17 and that there is nothing more than following phenomena as they come, responding to them, and leaving no traces.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“The meaning of the phrase ‘form and spirit are consistent,’7 is that the highest principle is contained within a performance of technique. Ch’i is what generates function throughout the body. When that ch’i is serene and everywhere, response to things will be boundless; and when you are in harmony, there will be no contending with strength. Though you are struck with metal and rock, you will not be crushed. Nevertheless, even the smallest thoughts will all become [conscious] intentions.8 This is not the spontaneity9 of the Way. Thus, when you face off with another, if your mind has not been subdued, the mentality of opposition will exist. What technique will you use then? No-Mind10 and responding naturally is the only answer.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“These things are endless. When you try fixing your mind on the places you contact with your eyes and ears, you’ll find that everything between Heaven and Earth can become the seed of some resourcefulness. There is nothing under Heaven that cannot be said to be your teacher. Everything is important to you, so search it out. When there is absolutely nothing important enough for you to search out, there will be nothing left for you to receive from mankind.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“Being composed and being off-guard may look alike, but they are quite different. You should first test this out for yourself.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“Selfish thoughts are born from a mind bent on its own profit. And when you think only about your own profit, you will not think twice about how you harm others. In the end, you will create perversity, generate evil, and even destroy your own body.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“When you leave things to Heaven, but have not done everything you could in human affairs, you will not have understood Heaven’s Way. You will just be waiting for things to happen of their own accord, and this is called entrusting things to fate. For the moment, however, it could be said that if you are confused and unsettled, you should go ahead and leave things to fate.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“Always perplexed, we are unable to stop. This is called stupidity. While we say that the character of the common man has infinite variety, it is all just a matter of the muddiness of his ch’i: how shallow or deep, how thick or thin.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“Thus, there is nothing that is hidden. And it is just like this in Learning. For the disciples of Lao Tzu, the Buddha, Chuang Tzu, Lieh Tzu, Ch’ao Fu, and Hsu Yu,53 they were one in seeing the essence of mind in selflessness and absence of desire. Thus, they had not a hair’s breadth of selfish thought in their heads to encumber them. It was simply that the landscape they saw was different, and so in their separation, their schools were different.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“The wise men and men of noble character in the past who were wealthy and exalted were rare. From time to time there were men who received high rank and large stipends, but they did not pursue such things themselves; because the genius and virtues of these men were not hidden, they were promoted by their superiors, and thus only received these things unavoidably. But because they were not always in tune with the minds of men of little caliber, many of them were slandered and driven away.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“It is the consistency of principle that when form changes, the mind and ch’i change with it. Principle has no form, but exists within ch’i. Right now you have the form of a sparrow and, having a sparrow’s ch’i, the principle of a sparrow takes on existence. Likewise, when you have the form and ch’i of a clam, the principle of a clam will take on existence. The mind of the form follows that form. When the form is extinguished, the mind of that form disappears, too.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“Swordsmanship is the art used at the border between life and death. It is easy to throw away your life and proceed toward death, but it is difficult not to make life and death two... Entrust life to life, and entrust death to death; but do not make this mind two... With this, you will gain complete freedom.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts

“celerity”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“Being at rest and being inert are also completely different. Being at rest does not distance itself from living ch’i, but being inert is slightly removed from it.”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel

“Written by the hermit, Kanda Hakuryushi2 East Musashi, Edo, Toshima District Thirteenth Year of Kyoho (1728) On an auspicious day of the Twelfth Lunar Month”
― Issai Chozanshi, The Demon's Sermon on the Martial Arts: A Graphic Novel