“All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.”
~ James Thurber

“Somehow — I [Jakuso Kwong] didn’t drop it — the teacup. a temple treasure, dropped itself. You know how those things go? You’re positive you didn’t drop it, but somehow the teacup left the table. And I missed it and it fell on the floor and broke! And I felt so bad. And then Katagiri Roshi went, ‘Oh ooooooh.’ And then Suzuki Roshi went ‘ooooooh, ooooooh, ooooh, ooh, oh.’ Then my mind started working. I could glue it back together! But Suzuki Roshi came over and we picked up the pieces. And he took the pieces and he stuffed them into the garbage so deep that even my mind couldn’t get to them.”
~ “Dropped” Zen

“Karma means you don’t get away with nothin’.”
~ Ruth Denison

“All the way to Heaven is Heaven.”
~ St. Catherine if Siena

“There was a beautiful young girl who became pregnant out of wedlock, and told her angry parents that the father was an old and revered Zen master with a reputation for living a pure life. When the angry parents accused the Master, all he said was, “Is that so?” After the child was born, the Master brought the baby into his house and raised it as his own. After a year passed, the girl, stricken with remorse, finally recanted and told her parents that the Master was entirely innocent. The embarrassed parents came to fetch the child, apologizing to the Master and begging his forgiveness. All he said was: “Is that so?”
~ Zen Story

“Of ten things you would say, leave off nine. Like a fan in winter, like a bell hung in the air, not questioning the wind from all directions — this is a characteristic of people of the Way. Just go by the principle of the teaching, don’t care about the person; go by the path and do not congratulate yourself — this is the most important thing to remember.”
~Kaizen

“We are living in a historical period in which we understand that it is necessary for all of us to be conscious and active in our world. None of us can ignore this call to action. And yet, if we do not practice zazen, whether we call it zazen or whatever we call it and however we do it, we cannot act in any accurate way. There has been plenty of action — too much action. What we need is not more action, we need enlightened action. And this mans letting go of action.”
~Norman Fischer

“Swallow the stars until you are one with the universe, with all-pervading universal life.”
~Soen Nakagawa