Dogen Quotes & Sayings

If you cannot find the truth within yourself, where else do you expect to find it? — Dogen

To escape from the world means that one's mind is not concerned with the opinions of the world. — Dogen

Emptiness is bound to bloom, like hundreds of grasses blossoming. — Dogen

In the stream,
Rushing past
To the dusty world,
My fleeting form
Casts no reflection. — Dogen

A fish swims in the ocean, and no matter how far it swims there is no end to the water. A bird flies in the sky, and no matter how far it flies there is no end to the air. However the fish and the bird have never left their elements. Thus each of them totally covers its full range, and each of them totally experiences its realm ... Know that water is life and air is life. The bird is life and the fish is life. Life must be the bird and life must be the fish ... practice, enlightenment and people are like this. — Dogen

In doing zazen it is desirable to have a quiet room. You should be temperate in eating and drinking, forsaking all delusive relationships. Setting everything aside, think of neither good nor evil, right nor wrong. Thus having stopped the various functions of your mind, five up even the idea of becoming a Buddha. — Dogen

Meditation is not a way to enlightenment, Nor is it a method of achieving anything at all. It is peace itself. It is the actualization of wisdom, The ultimate truth of the oneness of all things. — Dogen

Students today should live fully every moment of time. This dew-like life fades away; time speeds swiftly. In this short life of ours, avoid involvement in superfluous things and just study the Way. — Dogen

Although we say mountains belong to the country, actually, they belong to those that love them. — Dogen

No matter how bad a state of mind you may get into, if you keep strong and hold out, eventually the floating clouds must vanish and the withering wind must cease. — Dogen

You should study not only that you become a mother when your child is born, but also that you become a child. — Dogen

When you walk in the mist, you get wet. — Dogen

Those who practice know whether realization is attained or not, just as those who drink water know whether it is hot or cold — Dogen

Treading along in this dreamlike, illusory realm,
Without looking for the traces I may have left;
A cuckoo's song beckons me to return home;
Hearing this, I tilt my head to see
Who has told me to turn back;
But do not ask me where I am going,
As I travel in this limitless world,
Where every step I take is my home. — Dogen

A fool sees himself as another, but a wise man sees others as himself. — Dogen

When you paint Spring, do not paint willows, plums, peaches, or apricots, but just paint Spring. To paint willows, plums, peaches, or apricots is to paint willows, plums, peaches, or apricots - it is not yet painting Spring. — Dogen

The true person is
Not anyone in particular;
But like the deep blue color
Of the limitless sky,
It is everyone,
Everywhere in the world. — Dogen

Handle even a single leaf of green in such a way that it manifests the body of the Buddha. This in turn allows the Buddha to manifest through the leaf. — Dogen

Set aside all involvements and let the myriad things rest. Zazen is not thinking of good, not thinking of bad. It is not conscious endeavour. It is not introspection. Do not desire to become a buddha; let sitting or lying down drop away. Be moderate in eating and drinking. Be mindful of the passing of time, and engage yourself in zazen as though you are saving your head from fire. — Dogen

Does a dragon still sing from within a withered tree? — Dogen

The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech. — Dogen

If he cannot stop the mind that seeks after fame and profit, he will spend his life without finding peace. — Dogen

When the old plum tree blooms, the entire world blooms. — Dogen

When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point. — Dogen

Clearly I know, the mind is mountains, rivers, and the great earth; sun, moon, and stars. — Dogen

Zazen is an activity that is an extension of the universe. Zazen is not the life of an individual, it's the universe that's breathing. — Dogen

Every man possesses the Buddha-nature. Do not demean yourselves. — Dogen

Do not be amazed by the true dragon. — Dogen

Each moment of zazen is equally wholeness of practice, equally wholeness of realization. This is not only practice while sitting, it is like a hammer striking emptiness: before and after, its exquisite peal permeates everywhere. How can it be limited to this moment? — Dogen

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass. — Dogen

If you want to travel the Way of Buddhas and Zen masters, then expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing. — Dogen

That the self advances and confirms the ten thousand things is called delusion; that the ten thousand things advance and confirm the self is called enlightenment. — Dogen

Those who see worldly life as an obstacle to Dharma see no Dharma in everyday actions. They have not yet discovered that there are no everyday actions outside of Dharma. — Dogen

The one and only thing required is to free oneself from the bondage of mind and body alike, putting the Buddha's own seal upon yourself. If you do this as you sit in ecstatic meditation, the whole universe itself scattered through the infinity of space turns into enlightenment. This is what I mean by the Buddha's seal. — Dogen

Do not be concerned with the faults of other persons. Do not see others' faults with a hateful mind. There is an old saying that if you stop seeing others' faults, then naturally seniors and venerated and juniors are revered. Do not imitate others' faults; just cultivate virtue. Buddha prohibited unwholesome actions, but did not tell us to hate those who practice unwholesome actions. — Dogen

Because mountains are high and broad, the way of riding the clouds is always reached in the mountains; the inconceivable power of soaring in the wind comes freely from the mountains — Dogen

To be in harmony with the wholeness of things is not to have anxiety over imperfections. — Dogen

The coming and going of birth and death is a painting. Unsurpassed enlightenment is a painting. The entire phenomenal universe and the empty sky are nothing but a painting. — Dogen

Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools. — Dogen

A zen master's life is one continuous mistake. — Dogen

If we look at the world with a deluded body and mind, we will think that our self is permanent. But if we practice correctly and return to our true self, we will realize that nothing is permanent — Dogen

One must be deeply aware of the impermanence of the world. — Dogen

To enter the Buddha Way is to stop discriminating between good and evil and to cast aside the mind that says this is good and that is bad. — Dogen

Mountains and oceans have whole worlds of innumerable wondrous features. We should understand that it is not only our distant surroundings that are like this, but even what is right here, even a single drop of water. — Dogen

The zazen I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the Dharma gate of repose and bliss, the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the manifestation of ultimate reality. Traps and snares can never reach it. Once its heart is grasped, you are like the dragon when he gains the water, like the tiger when she enters the mountain. For you must know that just there (in zazen) the right Dharma is manifesting itself and that, from the first, dullness and distraction are struck aside. — Dogen

There is a simple way to become buddha: When you refrain from unwholesome actions, are not attached to birth and death, and are compassionate toward all sentient beings, respectful to seniors and kind to juniors, not excluding or desiring anything, with no designing thoughts or worries, you will be called a buddha. Do not seek anything else. — Dogen

Learn the backward step that turns your light inward to illuminate your self. Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will be manifest. — Dogen

Though it has no thought of keeping watch, it's not for naught that the scarecrow stands in the grain field. — Dogen

You should stop searching for phrases and chasing after words. Take the backward step and turn the light inward. Your body-mind of itself will drop off and your original face will appear. If you want to attain just this, immediately practice just this. — Dogen

Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment. — Dogen

When both body and mind are at peace, all things appear as they are: perfect, complete, lacking nothing. — Dogen

When one first seeks the truth, one separates oneself from it. — Dogen

Practice and enlightenment are not two. — Dogen

IF YOU WOULD BE FREE OF GREED, FIRST YOU HAVE TO LEAVE EGOTISM BEHIND.
THE BEST MENTAL EXERCISE FOR RELINQUISHING EGOTISM IS CONTEMPLATING IMPERMANENCE. — Dogen

As I study both the exoteric and the esoteric schools of Buddhism, they maintain that human beings are endowed with Dharma-nature by birth. If this is the case, why did the Buddhas of all ages - undoubtedly in possession of enlightenment - find it necessary to seek enlightenment and engage in spiritual practice? — Dogen

In a snowfall that covers the winter grass a white heron uses his own whiteness to disappear. — Dogen

Understand clearly that when a great need appears a great use appears also; when there is small need there is small use; it is obvious, then, that full use is made of all things at all times according to the necessity thereof. — Dogen

There are myriads of forms and hundreds of grasses throughout the entire earth, yet each grass and each form itself is the entire earth. — Dogen

Consider that nirvana is itself no other than our life. — Dogen

Realization doesn't destroy the individual any more than the reflection of the moon breaks a drop of water. A drop of water can reflect the whole sky. — Dogen

I asked, "What are words?" The tenzo said, "One, two, three, four, five." I asked again, "What is practice?" "Nothing in the entire universe is hidden." — Dogen

Students, when you want to say something, think about it three times before you say it. Speak only if your words will benefit yourselves and others. Do not speak if it brings no benefit. — Dogen

It's too late to be ready. — Dogen

Nothing can be gained by extensive study and wide reading. Give them up immediately. — Dogen

The recognition of the coming and going of things is a first step in training and practice. — Dogen

In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light. — Dogen

Long ago a monk asked an old master, "When hundreds, thousands, or myriads of objects come all at once, what should be done?"
The master replied, "Don't try to control them"
What he means is that in whatever way objects come, do not try to change them. Whatever comes is the buddha-dharma, not objects at all. Do not understand the master's reply as merely a brilliant admonition, but realize that it is the truth. Even if you try to control what comes, it cannot be controlled. — Dogen

Just study Buddhism. Don't follow the sentiments of the world. — Dogen

When a buddha is painted, not only a clay altar or lump of earth is used, but the thirty-two marks, a blade of grass, and the cultivation of wisdom for incalculable eons are used. As a Buddha has been painted on a single scroll in this way, all buddhas are painted buddhas, and all painted buddhas are actual buddhas. — Dogen

An ancient buddha said, "Mountains are mountains; waters are waters." These words do not mean mountains are mountains; they mean mountains are mountains. — Dogen

Since we are provided with both a body and a mind, we grasp onto the physical forms we see. Since we are provided with both a body and a mind, we cling to the sounds we hear. As a consequence, we make ourselves inseparable from all things, yet we are not like some shadowy figure 'lodging' in a mirror or like the moon in water. Whenever we witness what is on the one side, its opposite side will be in darkness. — Dogen

When you ride in a boat and watch the shore, you might assume that the shore is moving. But when you keep your eyes closely on the boat, you can see that the boat moves. Similarly, if you examine many things with a confused mind, you might suppose that your mind and nature are permanent. But when you practice intimately and return to where you are, it will be clear that there is nothing that has unchanging self. — Dogen

Why abandon a seat in your own home to wander in vain through dusty regions of another land? If you make one false step, you miss what is right before your eyes. — Dogen

To what shall
I liken the world?
Moonlight, reflected
In dewdrops,
Shaken from a crane's bill. — Dogen

What is reality? An icicle forming in fire. — Dogen

Because monks come from the midst of purity, they consider as good and pure what does not arouse desire among other people. — Dogen

Students of the Way must not study Buddhism for the sake of themselves. They must study Buddhism only for the sake of Buddhism. The key to this is to renounce both body and mind without holding anything back and to offer them to the great sea of Buddhism. — Dogen

If you want to see things just as they are, then you yourself must practice just as you are. — Dogen

People like what is not true and they don't like what is true. — Dogen

When other sects speak well of Zen, the first thing that they praise is its poverty. — Dogen

In autumn even though I may see it again, how can I sleep with the moon this evening? — Dogen

Only those who have the great capacity of genuine trust can enter this realm [the realm of the buddhas]. Those who have no trust are unable to accept it, however much they hear it. — Dogen

Those who seek the easy way do not seek the true way. — Dogen

Know that the true dharma emerges of itself [during the practice of zazen], clearing away hindrances and distractions. — Dogen

Do not travel to other dusty lands, forsaking your own sitting place; if you cannot find the truth where you are now, you will never find it. — Dogen

Through one word, or seven words, or three times five, even if you investigate thoroughly myriad forms, nothing can be depended upon. Night advances, the moon glows and falls into the ocean. The black dragon jewel you have been searching for, is everywhere. — Dogen

Your body is like a dew-drop on the morning grass, your life is as brief as a flash of lightning. Momentary and vain, it is lost in a moment. (From 'Fukan zazengi') — Dogen

Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken! Take heed, do not squander your life. — Dogen

What you think in your own mind to be good, or what people of the world think is good, is not necessarily good. — Dogen

If you do not get it from yourself, where will you go for it? — Dogen

What is the way of the Buddha? It is to study the self. What is the study of the self? It is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to enlightened by everything in the world. — Dogen

59. "This dew-like life will fade away; avoid involvement in superfluous things." ~ — Dogen

When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original selves. — Dogen

To study Buddhism is to study ourselves. To study ourselves is to forget ourselves. — Dogen

Do not doubt that mountains walk simply because they may not appear to walk like humans. — Dogen

Do not view mountains from the scale of human thought — Dogen

If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it? — Dogen

Whenever learners or those beyond learning awaken the mind, for the first time they plant one buddha-nature. Working with the four elements and five clusters, if they practice sincerely they attain enlightenment. Working with plants, trees, fences and walls, if they practice sincerely they will attain enlightenment. This is because the four elements and five clusters and plants, trees, fences and walls are fellow students; because they are of the same essence, because they are the same mind and the same life, because they are the same body and the same mechanism. — Dogen

There is no beginning to practice nor end to enlightenment; There is no beginning to enlightenment nor end to practice. — Dogen

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things. — Dogen