---
title: "2 Checkerboard Quotes By Philip Kapleau"
description: "2 Checkerboard quotes by Philip Kapleau. Plus more from Philip Kapleau and more Checkerboard sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c71/philip-kapleau-28326_action_for-the-ordinary-man-whose-mind-is-a-che_79674.png"
---

> [For the ordinary man, whose mind is a checkerboard of crisscrossing reflections, opinions, and prejudices, bare attention is virtually impossible; his life is thus centered not in reality itself but in his ideas of it. By focusing the mind wholly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/for-the-ordinary-man-whose-mind-is-a-checkerboard-of-crisscrossing/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c71/philip-kapleau-28326_action_for-the-ordinary-man-whose-mind-is-a-che_79674.png)

> [For the ordinary man, whose mind is a checkerboard of criss-crossing reflections, opinions, and prejudices, bare attention is virtually impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/for-the-ordinary-man-whose-mind-is-a-checkerboard-of-criss-crossing/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/350/philip-kapleau-28326_attention_for-the-ordinary-man-whose-mind-is-a-che_3190837.png)

## More by Philip Kapleau

> [For the ordinary man, whose mind is a checkerboard of crisscrossing reflections, opinions, and prejudices, bare attention is virtually impossible; his life is thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/for-the-ordinary-man-whose-mind-is-a-checkerboard-of-crisscrossing/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [Many have come to realization simply by listening to the tinkling of a bell or some other sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/many-have-come-to-realization-simply-by-listening-to-the-tinkling-of/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [Anyone familiar with the numerous accounts of the Buddha's extraordinary compassion and reverence for living beings - for example his insistence that his monks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/anyone-familiar-with-the-numerous-accounts-of-the-buddha-s/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [Mindfulness is a state wherein one is totally aware in any situation and so always able to respond appropriately. Yet one is aware of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/mindfulness-is-a-state-wherein-one-is-totally-aware-in-any-situation/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [Die while alive And be thoroughly dead. Then do what you will, All is good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/die-while-alive-and-be-thoroughly-dead-then-do-what-you-will-all-is/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [To put the flesh of an animal into one's belly makes one an accessory after the fact of its slaughter, simply because if cows,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/to-put-the-flesh-of-an-animal-into-one-s-belly-makes-one-an-accessory/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [Every individual who eats flesh food, whether an animal is killed expressely for him or not, is supporting the trade of slaughtering and contributing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/every-individual-who-eats-flesh-food-whether-an-animal-is-killed/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [Ultimately the case for shunning animal flesh does not rest on what the Buddha allegedly said or didn't say. What is does rest on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/ultimately-the-case-for-shunning-animal-flesh-does-not-rest-on-what/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [The uniqueness of zazen lies in this: that the mind is freed from bondage to all thought forms, visions, objects, and imaginings, however sacred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/the-uniqueness-of-zazen-lies-in-this-that-the-mind-is-freed-from/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [Zen Master Dogen has pointed out that anxiety, when accepted, is the driving force to enlightenment in that it lays bare the human dilemma…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/zen-master-dogen-has-pointed-out-that-anxiety-when-accepted-is-the/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [The truth is that everything is One, and this of course is not a numerical one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/the-truth-is-that-everything-is-one-and-this-of-course-is-not-a/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [To be reborn hourly and daily in this life, we need to die — to give of ourselves wholly to the demands of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/to-be-reborn-hourly-and-daily-in-this-life-we-need-to-die-to-give-of/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [To suppress the grief, the pain, is to condemn oneself to a living death. Living fully means feeling fully; it means becoming completely one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/to-suppress-the-grief-the-pain-is-to-condemn-oneself-to-a-living/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [Although we all possess the seeds of great love and compassion, without the light of the enlightened one's wisdom and the waters of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/although-we-all-possess-the-seeds-of-great-love-and-compassion/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

> [You yourself are time- your body, your mind, the objects around you. Plunge into the river of time and swim, instead of standing on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kapleau/you-yourself-are-time-your-body-your-mind-the-objects-around-you/)

[Philip Kapleau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kapleau/)

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