In the year 2010, I had a calendar from Target, a calendar titled "Zen Mind". The phrases on each month are ones that I want to remember and I don't want to keep a used calendar to add to the clutter which already sort of over takes my life. Because of this reason I want to write the phrases down so that I can keep them and reference them if need be. The words are written by shunryu suzuki.
"When you are very honest with yourself and brave enough, you can express yourself fully. Whatever people may think, it is all right. Just be yourself. That is actual practice, your actual life."
"'Not always so.' This is the secret of the teaching. It may be so, but it is not always so. Without being caught by words or rules, without too many preconceived ideas, we actually do something, and doing something we apply our teaching."
"Wherever you are, enlightenment is there. If you stand up right where you are, that is enlightenment."
"when you listen to your inner voice directly, without even trying to listen to it, whenever you have a chance to hear it, there is the Way. There is the voice of Buddha."
"Direct experience will come when you are completely one with your activity; when you have no idea of self. This could be when you are sitting, but i could also be whenever your way-seeking mind is strong enough to forget your selfish desires."
"Be sincere enough to be yourself. That is the direction of our effort."
"Real enlightenment is always with you, so there is no need for you to stick to it or to even think about it. Because it is always with you, difficulty itself is enlightenment. Your busy life itself is enlightenment activity. That is true enlightenment."
"It is not the sound of a stone hitting bamboo or the color of plum blossoms that makes people enlightened. It is their practice."
"To find complete composure when you don't know who you are or where you are, that is to accept things as it is. Even though you don't know who you are, you accept yourself. That is "you" in its true self."
"When you are able to sit, then the meaning of your everyday life will be completely different. You will truly enjoy your life, because you are not attached to anything."
"Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality."
"Real practice has orientation or direction, but it has no purpose or gaining idea, so it can include everything that comes."
Someday I hope to reflect on these quotes.... but not today. In the busy life of this moment, I need to return to these thoughts and process them.
