Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.
—Shunryu Suzuki (1904–71) Zen Buddhist Monk, Author
Our jobs determine to a large extent what our lives are like. Is what you do for a living making you ill? Does it keep you from becoming a more fully realized person? Do you feel ashamed of what you have to do at work? All too often, the answer to such questions is yes. Yet it does not have to be like that. Work can be one of the most joyful, most fulfilling aspects of life. Whether it will be or not depends on the actions we collectively take.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
Not to be bound by rules, but to be creating one’s own rules–this is the kind of life which Zen is trying to have us live.
—D. T. Suzuki (1870–1966) Japanese Buddhist Philosopher
Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It’s something that we make happen, and it results from doing our best. Feeling fulfilled when we live up to our potentialities is what motivates differentiation and leads to evolution.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
Zen opens a man’s eyes to the greatest mystery as it is daily and hourly performed; it enlarges the heart to embrace eternity of time and infinity of pace in its every palpitation; it makes us live in the world as if walking in the garden of Eden
—D. T. Suzuki (1870–1966) Japanese Buddhist Philosopher
In studying the way, realizing it is hard; once you have realized it, preserving it is hard. When you can preserve it, putting it into practice is hard.
—Zen Proverb Japanese School of Mahayana Buddhism
Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British-American Philosopher, Author
Zen is a totally different kind of religion. It brings humanness to religion. It is not bothered about anything superhuman; its whole concern is how to make ordinary life a blessing.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
Zen is not a philosophy, it is poetry. It does not propose, it simply persuades. It does not argue, it simply sings its own song.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
A leader will find it difficult to articulate a coherent vision unless it expresses his core values, his basic identity…one must first embark on the formidable journey of self-discovery in order to create a vision with authentic soul.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
To remain caught up in ideas and words about Zen is, as the old masters say, to stink of Zen.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British-American Philosopher, Author
Some individuals have developed such strong internal standards that they no longer need the opinion of others to judge whether they have performed a task well or not. The ability to give objective feedback to oneself is in fact the mark of the expert.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
Zen is non-serious. Zen has a tremendous sense of humor. No other religion has evolved so much that it can have that sense of humor.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
Zen says everything is divine so how can anything be special? All is special. Nothing is non-special so nothing can be special.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
Perhaps the most distinguishing trait of visionary leaders is that they believe in a goal that benefits not only themselves, but others as well. It is such vision that attracts the psychic energy of other people, and makes them willing to work beyond the call of duty for the organization.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
Zen is mind-less activity, that is, Mind-ful activity, and it may often be advisable to emphasize the mind, and say, Take care of the thoughts and the actions will take care of themselves.
—Reginald Horace Blyth (1898–1964) English Author
Knowing oneself is not so much a question of discovering what is present in one’s self, but rather the creation of who one wants to be.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
The life of Zen begins, therefore, in a disillusion with the pursuit of goals which do not really exist the good without the bad, the gratification of a self which is no more than an idea, and the morrow which never comes.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British-American Philosopher, Author
Zen in it’s essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one’s being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.
—D. T. Suzuki (1870–1966) Japanese Buddhist Philosopher
Frozen in fear, you avoid responsibility because you think your experience is beyond your control. This stance keeps you from making decisions, solving problems, or going after what you want in life.
—David Emerald
This is the Zen approach: nothing is there to be done. There is nothing to do. One has just to be. Have a rest and be ordinary and be natural.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
The ultimate Path is without difficulty. Just avoid picking and choosing.
—Jianzhi Sengcan (d.606 CE) Chinese-Buddhist Monk
Zen is the game of insight, the game of discovering who you are beneath the social masks.
—Reginald Horace Blyth (1898–1964) English Author
In Zen, poverty is voluntary, and considered not really as poverty so much as simplicity, freedom, unclutteredness.
—Alan Watts (1915–73) British-American Philosopher, Author
You become that which you think you are. Or, it is not that you become it, but that the idea gets very deeply rooted – and that’s what all conditioning is.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
—Margaret Mead (1901–78) American Anthropologist, Social Psychologist
For Zen, man is the goal; man is the end unto himself. God is not something above humanity, God is something hidden within humanity. Man is carrying God in himself as a potentiality.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
The downside, of course, is that over time religions become encrusted with precepts and ideas that are the antithesis of soul, as each faith tries to protect its doctrines and institution instead of nurturing the evolution of consciousness. If one is not careful to distinguish the genuine insights of a religion from its irrelevant accretions, one can go through life following an inappropriate moral compass.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (b.1934) Hungarian-American Psychologist
Zen lives in the present. The Whole teaching is: how to be in the present; how to get out of the past which is no more and how not to get involved in the future which is not yet, and just to be rooted, centered, in that which is.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher