26+ Taisen Deshimaru Quotes On Friendship, Death And Zen

Taisen Deshimaru was a Japanese philosopher and master of the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism. He is credited with popularizing Zen Buddhism in Europe and the Americas, and is remembered for his teachings on the principles of Zen and the importance of practice. Deshimaru's teachings were based on the traditional Zen teachings of the 13th century Japanese Zen master Eihei Dōgen. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Taisen Deshimaru on love, friendship, life.

Top 10 Taisen Deshimaru Quotes

1. Think with your whole body.
2. If you are not happy here and now, you never will be.
3. Human beings are afraid of dying. They are always running after something: money, honor, and pleasure. But if you had to die now, what would you want?
4. To practice Zen or the Martial Arts, you must live intensely, wholeheartedly, without reserve - as if you might die in the next instant
5. To receive everything, one must open one's hands and give.
6. You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair.
7. The body moves naturally, automatically, without any personal intervention or awareness. If we think too much, our actions become slow and hesitant.
8. In a fight between a strong technique and a strong body, technique will prevail. In a fight between a strong mind and a strong technique, mind will prevail, because it will find the weak point.
9. You cannot separate any part from the whole: interdependence rules the cosmic order.
10. Keep your hands open, and all the sands of the desert can pass through them. Close them, and all you can feel is a bit of grit.

Taisen Deshimaru Short Quotes

• We feel our shell keeps us safe, but it crushes us and others, and keeps out light and sun.
• Time is not a line, but a series of now-points.
• You have to practice until you die.
• Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am." I say, "I do not think, that is why I exist."
• We should learn to think with our fingers.
• The silence of the mountain is even more beautiful once the birds are quiet.

Taisen Deshimaru Quotes About Life

Train the body and develop stamina and endurance. But the spirit of competition and power that presides over them is not good, it reflects a distorted vision of life. The root of the martial arts is not there. — Taisen Deshimaru

From your first day at school you are cut off from life to make theories. — Taisen Deshimaru

Think with the whole body. — Taisen Deshimaru

Taisen Deshimaru Famous Quotes And Sayings

If you have a glass full of liquid you can discourse forever on its qualities, discuss whether it is cold, warm, whether it is really and truly composed of H-2-O, or even mineral water, or saki. Meditation is Drinking it! — Taisen Deshimaru

Zen is not a particular state but the normal state: silent, peaceful, unagitated. In Zazen neither intention, analysis, specific effort nor imagination take place. It's enough just to be without hypocrisy, dogmatism, arrogance - embracing all opposites. — Taisen Deshimaru

During zazen, brain and consciousness become pure. It's exactly like muddy water left to stand in a glass. Little by little, the sediment sinks to the bottom and the water becomes pure. — Taisen Deshimaru

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. — Taisen Deshimaru

What is called zazen is sitting on a zafu [pillow] in a quiet room, absolutely still, in the exact and proper position and without uttering a word, the mind empty of any thought, good or wicked. It is continuing to sit peacefully, facing a wall, and nothing more. Every day. — Taisen Deshimaru

If we achieve satori and the satori shows, like a bit of dogshit stuck to the top of our nose, that is not so good. — Taisen Deshimaru

Nobody today is normal, everybody is a little bit crazy or unbalanced, people's minds are running all the time. Their perceptions of the world are partial, incomplete. They are eaten alive by their egos. They think they see, but they are mistaken; all they do is project their madness, their world, upon the world. There is no clarity, no wisdom in that! — Taisen Deshimaru

Life Lessons by Taisen Deshimaru

1. Taisen Deshimaru taught the importance of zazen, or seated meditation, as a way to still the mind and open oneself up to the wisdom of the universe.
2. He also emphasized the importance of living in the present moment, and not allowing the past or future to interfere with one's ability to experience life fully.
3. Finally, he encouraged people to practice compassion and kindness towards all living beings, as a way to cultivate inner peace.