No Explanation Needed

Zen practice is very difficult.

If I explain it, you will not understand it.

If you do understand it, then there is no need to explain it.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Just as a doctor will forewarn you that excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your liver and shorten your life, so, too, will a sage point out activities that may lead to spiritual frustration and even to degeneration.

Such wise counsel may be a bitter pill to take, but it is a medicine that will restore one's zest for life.

No Lessons Today

The art of life cannot be taught, but it must be learned.

A Forgotten Task

The ego cannot be fixed; it can only be forgotten.

A Freudian Slip

A psychology that does not acknowledge the transcendent element in human nature is a false psychology.

What's the Difference

It is true that we have complete understanding of the true way of living within us. But if we are unaware of this understanding, it is the same as not knowing.

A Criminal Case

Good God, when will we humans become human? We wear trousers, collars, hats and we're still mules, wolves, foxes, pigs. We're supposed to have God's face. Who, we? I spit on our filthy mugs.--Zorba the Greek

Until Love purifies our desires of "the slag and dross of egotism," all our actions are criminal.