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are afraid to empty their minds lest they may plunge into the Void. They do not know that their own Mind is the Void. The ignorant eschew phenomena but not thought; the wise eschew thought but not phenomena.

HUANG PO; ZEN TEACHING OF HUANG PO

293.

A “virtuous friend” though he be gentle is not to be compared with right reflection (thought)—right thought kept well in the mind, no evil thing can ever enter there.

FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING 2070

294.

Do you not see—the clouds on the highest mountain gather and disperse of themselves; what “far” or “near” is there? The flowing water at the bottom of the canyon follows the curves and the straits, without “this” or “that.”

The everyday life of people is like clouds and water, but clouds and water are free while people are not. If they would get to be as free as clouds and water, where would people’s compulsive mundane routines arise?

DŌGEN; RATIONAL ZEN

295.

A sage does not speak in terms of being equal, lower or higher. Calmed and without selfishness he neither grasps nor rejects.

SUTTA NIPĀTA 954

296.

Even if you seek to harm an enemy,

You should remove your own defects and cultivate good qualities.

Through that you will help yourself,

And the enemy will be displeased.

NĀGĀRJUNA; PRECIOUS GARLAND 132

297.

Those who have great realization about delusion are buddhas. Those who are greatly deluded within realization are sentient beings.

DŌGEN; FLOWERS FALL (SHŌBŌGENZŌ GENJŌKŌAN)

298.

The value of Dhamma isn’t to be found in books. Those are just the external appearances of Dhamma, they’re not the realization of Dhamma as a personal experience. If you realize the Dhamma you realize your own mind, you see the truth there. When the truth becomes apparent it cuts off the stream of delusion.

AJAHN CHAH; LIVING DHAMMA

299.

Bhikkhus, all is burning. And what is the all that is burning?

The eye is burning, forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning, also whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with eye-contact for its indispensable condition, that too is burning. . . .

The ear is burning, sounds are burning . . .

The nose is burning, odors are burning . . .

The tongue is burning, flavors are burning . . .

The body is burning, tangibles are burning . . .

The mind is burning, ideas are burning. . . . Burning with what? Burning with the fire of lust, with the fire of hate, with the fire of delusion. I say it is burning with birth, aging and death, with sorrows, with lamentations, with pains, with griefs, with despairs.

SAṂYUTTA NIKĀYA XXXV. 1, 28

300.

His the knife, and mine the body—the twofold cause of suffering. He has grasped the knife, I my body. At which is there anger?

ŚĀNTIDEVA; BODHICARYĀVATĀRA 6.43

301.

He who has put away evil, who is humble, free from impurity, self restrained, versed in knowledge, leading a holy life,

That man may be truly called a Brāhmaṇa.

For him there are no desires anywhere in the world.

UDĀNA 1.4

302.

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.

SHUNRYU SUZUKI; ZEN MIND, BEGINNER’S MIND

303.

It is crucial for you to understand what meditation is. It is not some special posture, and it’s not just a set of mental exercises. Meditation is the cultivation of mindfulness and the application of that mindfulness once cultivated. You do not have to sit to meditate. You can meditate while washing the dishes. You can meditate in the shower, or roller skating, or typing letters. Meditation is awareness, and it must be applied to each and every activity of one’s life. This isn’t easy.

HENEPOLA GUNARATANA; MINDFULNESS IN PLAIN ENGLISH

304.

The mind and feeling are just like oil and water; they are in the same bottle but they don’t mix. Even if we are sick or in pain, we still know the feeling as feeling, the mind as mind. We know the painful or comfortable states but we don’t identify with them. We stay only