Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am." I say, "I do not think, that is why I exist." — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share Image
You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair. — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
We feel our shell keeps us safe, but it crushes us and others, and keeps out light and sun. — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
Human beings are afraid of dying. They are always running after something: money, honor, and pleasure. But if you had to die now, what… — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
Harmonizing opposites by going back to their source is the distinctive quality of the Zen attitude, the Middle Way: embracing contradictions, making a synthesis… — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
The body moves naturally, automatically, without any personal intervention or awareness. If we think too much, our actions become slow and hesitant. — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
From your first day at school you are cut off from life to make theories. — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
You cannot separate any part from the whole: interdependence rules the cosmic order. — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
Nobody today is normal, everybody is a little bit crazy or unbalanced, people's minds are running all the time. Their perceptions of the world… — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
If you have a glass full of liquid you can discourse forever on its qualities, discuss whether it is cold, warm, whether it is… — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
During zazen, brain and consciousness become pure. It's exactly like muddy water left to stand in a glass. Little by little, the sediment sinks… — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
Zen is not a particular state but the normal state: silent, peaceful, unagitated. In Zazen neither intention, analysis, specific effort nor imagination take place.… — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
The silence of the mountain is even more beautiful once the birds are quiet. — Taisen Deshimaru Copy Share
