Dogen

One must be deeply aware of the impermanence of the world.

— Dogen

Time is three eyes and eight elbows.

— Dogen

Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.

— Dogen

A zen master's life is one continuous mistake.

— Dogen

Sitting is the gateway of truth to total liberation.

— Dogen

If you do not get it from yourself, where will you go for it?

— Dogen

Those who seek the easy way do not seek the true way.

— Dogen

Consider that nirvana is itself no other than our life.

— Dogen

To be in harmony with the wholeness of things is not to have anxiety over imperfections.

— Dogen

“If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?”

— Dogen

To what shall I liken the world? Moonlight, reflected In dewdrops, Shaken from a crane's bill.

— Dogen

Know that the true dharma emerges of itself [during the practice of zazen], clearing away hindrances and distractions.

— Dogen

If we seek the Buddha outside the mind, the Buddha changes into a devil.

— Dogen

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

— Dogen

If you want to see things just as they are, then you yourself must practice just as you are.

— Dogen

Those who practice know whether realization is attained or not, just as those who drink water know whether it is hot or…

— Dogen

Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken.…

— Dogen

What is the way of the Buddha? It is to study the self. What is the study of the self? It is…

— Dogen

Mountains and oceans have whole worlds of innumerable wondrous features. We should understand that it is not only our distant surroundings that…

— Dogen

“If you attain unsurpassable, complete enlightenment, all sentient beings also attain it. The reason is that all sentient beings are aspects of…

— Dōgen

You should stop searching for phrases and chasing after words. Take the backward step and turn the light inward. Your body-mind of…

— Dogen

Handle even a single leaf of green in such a way that it manifests the body of the Buddha. This in turn…

— Dogen

Through one word, or seven words, or three times five, even if you investigate thoroughly myriad forms, nothing can be depended upon.…

— Dogen

Although its light is wide and great, the Moon is reflected in a puddle one inch wide. The whole Moon and the…

— Dogen

When a buddha is painted, not only a clay altar or lump of earth is used, but the thirty-two marks, a blade…

— Dogen

Whenever learners or those beyond learning awaken the mind, for the first time they plant one buddha-nature. Working with the four elements…

— Dogen

In the assemblies of the enlightened ones there have been many cases of mastering the Way bringing forth the heart of plants…

— Dogen

“To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the…

— Dogen

Life and death are nothing but the mind. Years, months, days, and hours are nothing but the mind. Dreams, illusions, and mirages…

— Dogen

Something you want badly enough can always be gained. No matter how fierce the enemy, how remote the beautiful lady, or how…

— Dogen

To study the Way is to study the Self. To study the Self is to forget the self. To forget the self…

— Dogen

Since we are provided with both a body and a mind, we grasp onto the physical forms we see. Since we are…

— Dogen

Do not view mountains from the scale of human thought.

— Dogen

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

— Dogen

What is reality? An icicle forming in fire.

— Dogen

Look for Buddha outside your own mind, and Buddha becomes the devil.

— Dogen

When the old plum tree blooms, the entire world blooms.

— Dogen

When one first seeks the truth, one separates oneself from it.

— Dogen

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

— Dogen

A fool sees himself as another, but a wise man sees others as himself.

— Dogen