Top 40 Zen Quotes

Zen Buddhism is a discipline where belief isn’t necessary.

The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.

I never thought much about God, certainly never wondered whether God was thinking about me, until I fell in love with a Zen Buddhist priest.

I always take kind of a zen view of casting and I really don’t remember people who passed. I kind of turn it over to the universe and figure, ‘Wow, I guess that wasn’t meant to be.’ It doesn’t sit with me.

I think any spiritual experience that’s worthwhile is not about ego and it will humble you in some way. And also, a Zen monk once said to me, ‘If you’re not laughing, then you’re not getting it.’

I think that that’s why artists make art – it is difficult to put into words unless you are a poet. What it takes is being open to the flow of universal creativity. The Zen artists knew this.

Well, I believe life is a Zen koan, that is, an unsolvable riddle. But the contemplation of that riddle – even though it cannot be solved – is, in itself, transformative. And if the contemplation is of high enough quality, you can merge with the divine.

When you’ve done the technical part, you’re then into the joy, the zen, into being. Technology no longer exists for you. You’re then into the mystery of the thing you’re doing.

Mourning doesn’t always mean zen, mourning doesn’t always mean somber, mourning can just be a celebration of a life of people. It’s not always about wearing black and listening to a Sarah McLachlan song.

In Japanese art, space assumed a dominant role and its position was strengthened by Zen concepts.

I love jeans and T-shirts, but for red carpets, I like Oscar de la Renta, who is timeless. Marchesa celebrates the female form in an ethereal way. Donna Karan does an Urban Zen collection, which is eco-friendly. I love socially conscious fashion.

We must recognize our own behavioral errors. To be blunt, you are not likely to become a cognitive Zen master anytime soon. But a little enlightenment could keep you from making some common investing errors.

Zen, per se, is not just an art, it’s not just a religion, it’s a realisation.

I use a Bruce Lee technique: ‘The way of no way.’ He had the idea that he would learn everything, so that whoever he had to fight, he could improvise anything. The best way of starting a gig is just to not think of anything – to clear your mind, not in an empty Zen state, but more just to go on and see where you go.

Anything by D. H. Lawrence or Jean Genet – ‘Zen Mind,’ ‘Beginner’s Mind’ is my daily go to for non-fiction.

The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.

As we grow up, we’re constantly defining ourselves. In my case: Caucasian, male, born in Iowa, live in Boston, Zen Buddhist, good at learning languages. With countless labels, I build up this creation I call my self.

I don’t lack confidence. I don’t sweat. I don’t want to get too Zen on you, but I have to run my own race.

I consider writing practice a true Zen practice because it all comes back at you. You can’t fool anyone because it’s on the page.

I actually shoot. I enjoy target practice. I find it really zen. You focus on nothing but the target. You have to control your breathing. It’s all part of my years in the military, where I was taught to become a marksman but also to respect my weapon.

My feeling or philosophy is closer to Taoism and Zen Buddhism, ’cause it’s the most practical.

It is not good to talk about Zen, because Zen is nothingness… If you talk about it, you are always lying, and if you don’t talk about it, no one knows it is there.

I snap at people I love all the time, and that makes me feel bad about myself. I want to be Zen. I am so not Zen. Whatever Zen is, I’m the opposite of it.

My blogging life is basically goalless. I like the zen nature of that, and paradoxically, it improves results.

If you study the writings of the mystics, you will always find things in them that appear to be paradoxes, as in Zen, particularly.

Working out is my biggest hobby. It’s my Zen hour. I just zone out.

Whether you are a genius or an idiot, a thief or, like me, a Zen priest who has cultivated the mind for 30 years – the mind anyway is subject to conditions.

The way I meditate is by being organised. I can get real Zen if I go home and tidy the front room.

Children are natural Zen masters; their world is brand new in each and every moment.

Abundant choice doesn’t force us to look for the absolute best of everything. It allows us to find the extremes in those things we really care about, whether that means great coffee, jeans cut wide across the hips, or a spouse who shares your zeal for mountaineering, Zen meditation, and science fiction.

Today, I regularly attend two Buddhist organizations, the Zen Center of Los Angeles and Against the Stream, but I also attend certain Christian functions. I try to cultivate a generous, kind spirit and am open to anything to help get me there.

I like the Zen artists: they’d do some work, and then they’d stop for a while.

I am not a big technology person. I don’t go on the Internet really much at all. Drawing is like a zen thing; it’s private, which in this day and age is harder to come by.

Anywhere which is in a forest, that’s my zen place.

I have a profound affection for Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism’s particular ways of meditating.

Cooking is one of the most zen things – you have to be there.

Green politics at its worst amounts to a sort of Zen fascism; less extreme, it denounces growth and seeks to stop the world so that we can all get off.

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

I can make a couple of good sandwiches: tuna salad and chopped egg salad. And Greek bean soup. I was a cook for my old Zen master for many years. So there were two or three dishes that he liked, you know. Teriyaki salmon, a few things.

Surfing soothes me, it’s always been a kind of Zen experience for me. The ocean is so magnificent, peaceful, and awesome. The rest of the world disappears for me when I’m on a wave.