---
title: "3 Known Zen Quotes by 3 authors"
description: "Browse 3 Known Zen quotes by 3 authors. Discover the best Known Zen sayings and thoughts."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aea/peter-matthiessen-5795_meditation_the-central-feature-of-the-practice-of-m_146808.jpg"
---

> [“The central feature of the practice of meditation and hard work known as Zen is that, as Matthiessen says, it “has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-matthiessen/the-central-feature-of-the-practice-of-meditation-and-hard-work-known/)

[Peter Matthiessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-matthiessen/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aea/peter-matthiessen-5795_meditation_the-central-feature-of-the-practice-of-m_146808.jpg)

> [Each of the small enlightenments that a Zen practitioner has, which are known in Zen as "Satori experiences," provides deeper insights into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/each-of-the-small-enlightenments-that-a-zen-practitioner-has-which/)

[Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/094/frederick-lenz-8_buddhism_each-of-the-small-enlightenments-that-a_685879.jpg)

> [“We cannot learn if we are stuck in our mind’s conditioned way of thinking. We must be open to discovering the Truth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/we-cannot-learn-if-we-are-stuck-in-our-mind-s-conditioned-way-of/)

[Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/joseph-p-kauffman-16033_acceptance_we-cannot-learn-if-we-are-stuck-in-our-m_1485932.jpg)

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                        "text": "“The central feature of the practice of meditation and hard work known as Zen is that, as Matthiessen says, it “has no patience with mysticism, far less the occult.” Nor does it have any time with moralism, the prescriptions or distortions we would impose on the world, obscuring it from our view. It asks, it insists rather, that we take this moment for what it is, undistracted, and not cloud it with needless worries of what might have been or fantasies of what might come to be. It is, essentially, a training in the real…”the Universe itself is the scripture of Zen.\" Pico Iyer from introduction.”",
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                        "text": "Each of the small enlightenments that a Zen practitioner has, which are known in Zen as \"Satori experiences,\" provides deeper insights into the nature of existence and helps a person prepare for complete enlightenment.",
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                        "text": "“We cannot learn if we are stuck in our mind’s conditioned way of thinking. We must be open to discovering the Truth, whatever it may turn out to be. This requires a state of openness, curiosity, and sincerity, a state of pure awareness, a state of observing reality without jumping to conclusions about what reality is. This state of direct experience is known in Zen as “beginner’s mind,” and it is essential to embody this state when we want to understand our experience.”",
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