Sheng Quotes & Sayings

One day, I decided to be an island. I took off my clothes and walked into the sea, then floated there, bobbing along with the tide, suspended by my inflatable tube and water wings. — Ng Yi-Sheng

For if someone died at an old age, or of natural causes, a funeral was a time of celebration rather than mourning. — Sheng-Shih Lin

Virtuous man, contrived conceptualizations come from the existence of a mind, which is a conditioned [conglomeration of] the six sense objects. The conditioned impressions of deluded thoughts are not the true essence of mind; rather, they are like flowers in the sky. The discernment of the realm of Buddhahood with such conceptualization is comparable to the production of empty fruit by the empty flower. One merely revolves in this entanglement of deluded thoughts and gains no result. — Sheng Yen

It is easy to change the landscape of mountains and rivers but it is difficult to change one's nature. — You-Sheng Li

Those who do not have faith in others will not be able to stand on their own. — Sheng Yen

In China, women who are single past the age of twenty-seven are stigmatized as sheng nu, or "leftover women." They face severe pressure from their families to marry, stemming from the widespread belief that regardless of education and professional achievement, a woman is "absolutely nothing until she is married." One thirty-six-year-old economics professor was rejected by fifteen men because she had an advanced degree; her father then forbade her younger sister from going to graduate school. — Sheryl Sandberg

Evil and good meet with their due reward. Good fortune and ill luck walk side by side. But he who never walks the wrong path, need have no fear when comes the summons in the night. — Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng

When pleasure reaches its height passions are
intense, and feelings know no bounds;
As the mouth of the "divine turtle"
disgorges ts "silvery stream. — Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng

Why should a financial engineer be paid four, four times ... to a hundred times more than the, uh ... real engineer?
A real engineer build bridges, a financial engineer build, build dreams.
And when those dream turn out to be nightmares, other people pay for it. — Andrew Sheng

When a beautiful woman takes an idea firmly into her head, even if the walls are then thousand feet high, she cannot be prevented from carrying it out. But if she rejects it, yet it will be as though a thousand mountains kept you apart — Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng

I have found that we need to maintain relationships with all spheres of society: the local community, politicians from all parties, business leaders, artists, and farmers....We don't favor one kind of person over another, or one political party over another...My goal is for them to use the method and concept of Chan practice to benefit their work and their organizations....That is our duty. — Sheng Yen

In meditation, silently and serenely, all words are transcended.
In Illumination, all things appear as is.
Silence is the ceasing of ego-grasping. Illumination is the functioning of the wonder of wisdom.
The unity of these two is awakening to Buddha Nature. — Sheng Yen

From the perspective of an effective altruist, Tzu Chi does some surprising things. After the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, Tzu Chi raised funds to distribute hot meals to survivors, and in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which battered New York and New Jersey in 2012, Tzu Chi distributed $10 million dollars worth of Visa debit cards, with $600 on each card, to victims of the storm.7 When I visited the Tzu Chi hospital in Hualien, I asked Rey-Sheng Her, a spokesman for Tzu Chi, why the organization would give aid to the citizens of wealthy countries like Japan and the United States, when the money could do much more good if used to help people in extreme poverty. His answer was that it is important for Tzu Chi to show compassion and love for all, rich and poor. — Peter Singer

If moment by moment you can keep your mind clear then nothing will confuse you. — Sheng Yen

Do not ask for less responsibility to be free and relaxed-ask for more strength! — Sheng Yen

Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Follow the stream, have faith in its course. It will go on its own way, meandering here, trickling there. It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. Just follow it. Never let it out of your sight. It will take you. — Sheng Yen

I follow four dictates: face it, accept it, deal with it, then let it go. — Sheng Yen