1. The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.
2. Whatever a monk keeps pursuing his thinking and pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness.
3. Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.
4. Looking deeply at life as it is in this very moment, the meditator dwells in stability and freedom.
5. Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.
6. “Meditate… do not delay, lest you later regret it.”
7. “To insist on a spiritual practice that served you in the past is to carry the raft on your back after you have crossed the river.”
8. “If you find no one to support you on the spiritual path, walk alone.”
9. “Stop, stop. Do not speak. The ultimate truth is not even to think.”
10. “The one in whom no longer exist the craving and thirst that perpetuate becoming; how could you track that Awakened one, trackless, and of limitless range.”
11. “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”
12. “A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.”
13. “Purity or impurity depends on oneself, no one can purify another.”
14. “Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.”
15. “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
16. “There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind.”
17. “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”
18. “All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, suffering follows him as the wheel follows the hoof of the beast that draws the wagon…. If a man speaks or acts with a good thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.”
19. “Whatever a monk keeps pursuing his thinking and pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness.”
20. “Nothing can harm you as much as your own thoughts unguarded.”
21. “In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.”
22. “Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draw it.”
23. “Remembering a wrong is like carrying a burden on the mind.”
24. “The fool who knows he is a fool is that much wiser.”
25. “Whatever has the nature of arising has the nature of ceasing.”
26. “Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two.”
27. “What is the appropriate behavior for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What’s the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?”
28. “Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one’s own acts, done and undone.”
29. “The true master lives in truth, in goodness and restraint, non-violence, moderation, and purity.”
30. “Offend in neither word nor deed. Eat with moderation. Live in your heart. Seek the highest consciousness. Master yourself according to the law. This is the simple teaching of the awakened.”
31. “Life is like the harp string, if it is strung too tight it won’t play, if it is too lose it hangs, the tension that produces the beautiful sound lies in the middle.”
32. “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
33. “Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.”
34. “The wise ones fashioned speech with their thought, sifting it as grain is sifted through a sieve.”
35. “The virtues, like the Muses, are always seen in groups. A good principle was never found solitary in any breast.”
36. “Someone who has set out in the vehicle of a Bodhisattva should decide that ‘I must lead all the beings to nirvana, into that realm of nirvana which leaves nothing behind’. What is this realm of nirvana which leaves nothing behind?”
37. “Some do not understand that we must die, but those who do realize this settle their quarrels.’
38. “Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them all.”
39. “Better it is to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things.”
40. “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, not to anticipate the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
Some of these may not actually be quotes from The Buddha,
and they are all wise and good Dharma...Thay Kozen
