Dogen

There is no beginning to practice nor end to enlightenment; There is no beginning to enlightenment nor end to practice.

— Dogen

To escape from the world means that one's mind is not concerned with the opinions of the world.

— Dogen

Do not travel to other dusty lands, forsaking your own sitting place; if you cannot find the truth where you are now,…

— Dogen

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

— Dogen

There are mountains hidden in mountains. There are mountains hidden in hiddenness. This is complete understanding.

— Dogen

Your body is like a dew-drop on the morning grass, your life is as brief as a flash of lightning. Momentary and…

— Dogen

Do not doubt that mountains walk simply because they may not appear to walk like humans.

— Dogen

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

— Dogen

Yet you must not cling to the words of the old sages either; they, too, may not be right. Even if you…

— Dogen

“Each moment of zazen is equally wholeness of practice, equally wholeness of realization. This is not only practice while sitting, it is…

— Dogen

An ancient buddha said, “Mountains are mountains; waters are waters.” These words do not mean mountains are mountains; they mean mountains are…

— Dogen

There are thousands upon thousands of students who have practiced meditation and obtained its fruits. Do not doubt its possibilities because of…

— Dogen

Since it is the practice of enlightenment, that practice has no beginning and since it is enlightenment within the practice, that realization…

— Dogen

Learn the backward step that turns your light inward to illuminate your self. Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and…

— Dogen

If we look at the world with a deluded body and mind, we will think that our self is permanent. But if…

— Dogen

If you want to do a certain thing, you first have to be a certain person. Once you become that certain person,…

— Dogen

Studying the Buddha way is studying oneself. Studying oneself is forgetting oneself. Forgetting oneself is being enlightened by all things. Being enlightened…

— Dogen

Continuous practice, day after day, is the most appropriate way of expressing gratitude. This means that you practice continuously, without wasting a…

— Dogen

When you ride in a boat and watch the shore, you might assume that the shore is moving. But when you keep…

— Dogen

In doing zazen it is desirable to have a quiet room. You should be temperate in eating and drinking, forsaking all delusive…

— Dogen

The zazen I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the Dharma gate of repose and bliss, the practice-realization of…

— Dogen

When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original selves.

— Dogen

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

— Dogen

“Focus your mind on one thing, absorb the old examples, study the actions of the masters- penetrate deeply into a single form…

— Dōgen

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

— Dogen

Cease from practice based on intellectual understanding, pursuing words, and following after speech.

— Dogen

The true person is Not anyone in particular; But like the deep blue color Of the limitless sky, It is everyone, Everywhere…

— Dogen

Working with plants, trees, fences and walls, if they practice sincerely they will attain enlightenment.

— Dogen

The recognition of the coming and going of things is a first step in training and practice.

— Dogen

Let your heart go out and abide in things. Let things return and abide in your heart.

— Dogen

To start from the self and try to understand all things is delusion. To let the self be awakened by all things…

— Dogen

There are myriads of forms and hundreds of grasses throughout the entire earth, yet each grass and each form itself is the…

— Dogen

“This dew-like life will fade away; avoid involvement in superfluous things.”

— Dōgen

When both body and mind are at peace, all things appear as they are: perfect, complete, lacking nothing.

— Dogen

In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light.

— Dogen

Zazen is an activity that is an extension of the universe. Zazen is not the life of an individual, it's the universe…

— Dogen

Do not arouse disdainful mind when you prepare a broth of wild grasses; do not arouse joyful mind when you prepare a…

— Dogen

In a snowfall that covers the winter grass a white heron uses his own whiteness to disappear.

— Dogen

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

— Dogen

In the stream, Rushing past To the dusty world, My fleeting form Casts no reflection.

— Dogen