To Know and to Act

"To know and to act are one and the same."

-Samurai Maxim

The Mirrors of Shinto

"Everybody has observed that the Shinto shrines are conspicuously devoid of objects and instruments of worship, and that a plain mirror hung in the sanctuary forms the essential part of its furnishing. The presence of this article is easy to explain: it typifies the human heart, which, when perfectly placid and clear, reflects the very image of the Deity. When you stand, therefore, in front of the shrine to worship, you see your own image reflected on its shining surface, and the act of worship is tantamount to the old Delphic injunction, ‘Know Thyself.’"

-Inazo Nitobe, Bushido: The Soul of Japan

Intuitive Release

"Rationality constrains our mind; intuition releases it."

-Thomas Hoover, Zen Experience

Led by the Tail

"Passions are like legs. They should be guided by the eye of reason. No wise serpent is led by its tail, so no wise man is led by his passion."

-Kaiten Nukariya, The Religion of the Samurai: A Study of Zen Philosophy and Discipline in China and Japan

Enlightenment Within

"The spiritual region lies within, and each of us must strive, through our own inner and individual efforts and not through any outside agency, to unfold ourselves and bring about enlightenment."

-Soyen Shaku, Zen for Americans

Penetrating the Stream of Thought

"The crucial importance of penetrating behind our continuous stream of thought (as largely unconscious and lightning-fast flows of inner fantasy-dialogue) is stressed by every major consciousness tradition in the world: Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Sufi, Zen, and so on."

-Duane Elgin, Voluntary Simplicity

Mind like a Mirror

"The mind of a perfect man is like a mirror. It grasps nothing. It expects nothing. It reflects but does not hold. Therefore, the perfect man can act without effort."

-Chuang Tzu

Nowhere in Particular

"The mind should be no where in particular."

-Takuan

Know Thyself

"(It is said) ... that that which knows others is intellect, and that that which knows itself is wisdom."

-Kwei Fung Tsung Mih, Origin of Man

Going with the Flow

"Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free; stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate."

-Chuang Tzu