Zen Quotes

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes. (Alan Watts)
The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes. Zen practice is to open up our small mind. View quote
Shunryu Suzuki
Children are natural Zen masters; their world is brand new in each and every moment. View quote
John Bradshaw
Zen teaches that once we can open up to the inevitability of our demise, we can begin to transform that situation and lighten up about it. View quote
Allen Klein
In the potential of absurdity, hiding in the disparate combination of the various different subjects which in themselves are nothing but daily items equally in the exclusive representation of a normal item taken out of their usual context, is by far the most radical – in its effect comparable to a Japanese Zen koan - paradox to be witnessed, which modern art has produced, one of the most forceful impulses that generated from it. View quote
Antoni Tàpies
HELLO! Look at me. HELLO! I am so ZEN. This is BLOOD. This is NOTHING. Hello. Everything is nothing, and it's so cool to be ENLIGHTENED. Like me. View quote
Chuck Palahniuk
When other sects speak well of Zen, the first thing that they praise is its poverty. View quote
Dōgen
To an experienced Zen Buddhist, asking if one believes in Zen or one believes in the Buddha, sounds a little ludicrous, like asking if one believes in air or water. Similarly Quality is not something you believe in, Quality is something you experience. View quote
Robert M. Pirsig
Zen is the "spirit of the valley." The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there. View quote
Robert M. Pirsig
...he had a tremendous propensity for getting lost when driving. This was largely because of his "Zen" method of navigation, which was simply to find any car that looked as if it knew where it was going and follow it. The results were more often surprising than successful, but he felt it was worth it for the sake of the few occasions when it was both. View quote
Douglas Adams
As far as vocal preparation goes, it's really an interesting thing for such a fragile instrument and using it properly is like walking a tightrope. I have learned not to do extensive warm-ups. It's really more of a cerebral mind-body connection Zen hippy thing, just knowing your body and figuring out if I do that then I will be able to speak tomorrow. (Davey Havok)
Real Freedom is to not feel limited when wearing this Zen robe, this troublesome formal robe. Similarly, in our busy life we should wear this civilization without being bothered by it, without ignoring it, without being caught by it. View quote
Shunryu Suzuki
Harmonizing opposites by going back to their source is the distinctive quality of the Zen attitude, the Middle Way: embracing contradictions, making a synthesis of them, achieving balance. View quote
Taisen Deshimaru
Be calm. Be Zen. You are Buddha. View quote
James Patterson
Working out is my biggest hobby. It's my Zen hour. I just zone out. View quote
Zac Efron
Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen. View quote
Bodhidharma
At my Rolling Stones' tour, the camera was a protection. I used it in a Zen way. View quote
Annie Leibovitz
Golf is a spiritual game. It's like Zen. You have to let your mind take over. View quote
Amy Alcott
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. View quote
Brad Grey
Zen Buddhism is a discipline where belief isn't necessary. View quote
David Sylvian
In fact, in many ways my mother was quite hippy-dippy, serving macrobiotic food and reading 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.' (Kristin Scott Thomas)
What I would say to filmmakers, if I may be so bold or so arrogant, is to draw inspiration from other filmmakers, but go to the place in your own gut where everything is nothing. That's a very Zen thing to say, but that place of nothing is where real creativity comes out of. View quote
Lawrence Bender
There are things that I value now that I didn't when I first went over there, like Zen Buddhism, which has become part of my life over the last couple years. View quote
Matthew Sweet
Having plants and flowers in my space makes me feel very calm and Zen. For me, it's important to meditate every morning to be very clear in the head, and nature really helps me do the same thing. View quote
Nicola Formichetti
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. View quote
Peter Farrelly