Author

Dōgen

Dōgen

1200 — 1253 · philosopher · Japan

23 quotes

Furthermore, form and substance are like dew on a blade of grass, and fleeting life is as a flash of lightning, instantly emptied and immediately lost.

Dōgen

★ 4,5 ♥ 198

In the great way of going beyond, no endeavor is complete without being one with myriad things. This is ocean mudra samadhi.

Dōgen

★ 5,0 ♥ 87

Buddhas and Ancestors continuously maintain ocean mudra samadhi. While swimming in this samadhi, they expound, realize, practice.

Dōgen

★ 4,6 ♥ 155

If he cannot stop the mind that seeks after fame and profit, he will spend his life without finding peace.

Dōgen

★ 4,9 ♥ 198

Just study Buddhism. Don't follow the sentiments of the world.

Dōgen

★ 4,7 ♥ 225

People who truly follow the Way would do well to conceal the fact that they are Buddhists.

Dōgen

★ 4,6 ♥ 198

Because monks come from the midst of purity, they consider as good and pure what does not arouse desire among other people.

Dōgen

★ 4,7 ♥ 181

When other sects speak well of Zen, the first thing that they praise is its poverty.

Dōgen

★ 4,7 ♥ 100

Zazen is the ultimate practice. This is indeed the True Self. The Buddhadharma is not to be sought outside of this.

Dōgen

★ 4,9 ♥ 124

It is only due to a lack of heart for the Way and a lack of skill in handling their daily conduct that people become vainly tied to fame and gain.

Dōgen

★ 4,7 ♥ 75

But do not ask me where I am going, As I travel in this limitless world, Where every step I take is my home.

Dōgen

★ 4,6 ♥ 53

Coming, going, the waterbirds don't leave a trace don't follow a path.

Dōgen

★ 4,9 ♥ 248

Students, when you want to say something, think about it three times before you say it. Speak only if your words will benefit yourselves and others. Do not speak if it brings no benefit.

Dōgen

★ 5,0 ♥ 228

Students today should begrudge every moment of time. This dewlike life fades away; time speeds swiftly. In this short life of ours, avoid involvement in superfluous things and just study the Way.

Dōgen

★ 4,8 ♥ 43

Students of the Way must not study Buddhism for the sake of themselves. They must study Buddhism only for the sake of Buddhism. The key to this is to renounce both body and mind without holding anything back and to offer them to the great sea of Buddhism.

Dōgen

★ 4,8 ♥ 84

Yet you must not cling to the words of the old sages either; they, too, may not be right. Even if you believe them, you should be alert so that, in the event that something superior comes along, you may follow that.

Dōgen

★ 4,6 ♥ 95

Just practice good, do good for others, without thinking of making yourself known so that you may gain reward. Really bring benefit to others, gaining nothing for yourself. This is the primary requisite for breaking free of attachments to the Self.

Dōgen

★ 4,8 ♥ 178

The primordial Buddhas are saying,

Dōgen

★ 4,8 ♥ 117

Therefore, you must stop comprehending the conduct of investigating words and chasing discourses. You must learn to step backward to turn your light around to reflect on yourself. Mind and body will naturally fall away and your original face will manifest itself. If you wish to attain suchness, devote yourself to suchness at once.

Dōgen

★ 4,6 ♥ 185

Something you want badly enough can always be gained. No matter how fierce the enemy, how remote the beautiful lady, or how carefully guarded the treasure, there is always a means to the goal for the earnest seeker. The unseen help of the guardian gods of heaven and earth assure fulfillment.

Dōgen

★ 4,6 ♥ 201

As I study both the exoteric and the esoteric schools of Buddhism, they maintain that human beings are endowed with Dharma-nature by birth. If this is the case, why did the Buddhas of all ages — undoubtedly in possession of enlightenment — find it necessary to seek enlightenment and engage in spiritual practice?

Dōgen

★ 5,0 ♥ 142

All the Buddhas, whether in this world or in other quarters, in the western heaven (India) or the eastern earth (China), equally held the Buddha-seal and altogether enjoyed the supreme style. They were fully devoted to this total sitting (shikantaza) and were totally installed in this unmoved state. Even though there are a thousand differences and a million nuances, they engaged devotedly in practicing zazen and realizing the Way.

Dōgen

★ 4,7 ♥ 146

To study the Buddha way is to study oneself. To study oneself is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to be enlightened by the myriad dharmas. To be enlightened by the myriad dharmas is to bring about the dropping away of body and mind of both oneself and others. The traces of enlightenment come to an end, and this traceless enlightenment is continued endlessly. When a person starts to search out the dharma, he separates himself far from the dharma. When the dharma has already been rightly transmitted in oneself, just then one is one's original self.

Dōgen

★ 4,6 ♥ 156

Portrait: Wikimedia Commons