How Familiar Are You With Chan/Zen Buddhism?
Buddhism is presented in several branches in various ways highlighting various aspects and Chan/Zen Buddhism has a very captivating and elegant simplicity. I'll site few quotes below:
The mind is an uncertain thing. This body is uncertain. Together they are impermanent. Together they are a source of suffering. Together they are devoid of self. These, the Buddha pointed out, are neither a being, nor a person, nor a self, nor a soul, nor us, nor they. They are merely elements: earth, water, fire, and wind. Elements only!
When the mind sees this, it will rid itself of attachment which holds that ‘I’ am beautiful, ‘I’ am good, ‘I’ am evil, ‘I’ am suffering, ‘I’ have, ‘I’ this, or ‘I’ that. You will experience a state of unity, for you’ll have seen that all of mankind is basically the same. There is no ‘I’. There are only elements.
- Ajahn Chah: Bodhinyana
The Unborn is the ground of everything;
the Unborn is the beginning of everything.
Because there is no ground for anything
outside of the Unborn
and because before the Unborn
there was no beginning for anything,
the Unborn is the foundation of all Buddhas.
- Bankei (1622-1693)
The perfect person has many different aspects but at heart he changes not. To understand the world he assumes its appearances but his heart remains centered on the One. Within he is stable, outwardly he bends and straightens like a bow
- Wen-tzu
Neither by words nor by the patriarch;
Neither by colors nor by sound was I enlightened.
But, at midnight, when I blew out
The candle and went to bed,
Suddenly, I reached the dawn.
Profound quietude delivered me
To the transparent moonlight.
After enlightenment one understands
That the Six Classics contain not even a word.
- Wang Yang-ming (1472-1529)
If you do not spontaneously
Trust yourself sufficiently,
You will be in a frantic state,
Pursuing all sorts of objects
And being changed
By those objects,
Unable to be independent.
- Linji (d.867)
Keys of Zen Mind
When you find peace and quiet in the midst of busyness and clamor, then towns and cities become mountain forests; afflictions are enlightenment, and sentient beings realize true awakening.
These sayings can be uttered and understood by all beginners, who construe it as uniform equanimity; but then when they let their minds go, the ordinary and the spiritual are divided as before, quietude and activity operate separately. So obviously this was only an intellectual understanding.
- Foyan (1067–1120)
People in older times asked questions on account of confusion, so they were seeking actual realization through their questioning; when they got a single saying or half a phrase, they would take it seriously and examine it until they penetrated it.
They were not like people nowadays who pose questions at random and answer with whatever comes out of their mouths, making laughingstocks of themselves.
- Foyan (1067–1120)
Quotes are from https://www.dailyzen.com Here are few more sources I've found:
http://www.iloveulove.com/spirituality/buddhist/zen.htm
http://www.gardendigest.com/zen/quotes.htm
http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/zenindex.html
https://www.101zenstories.org
Now Here is some unexpected extra. Watch it to the end:
- I Grew Up In A Chan/Zen Background. I'm Very Familiar With It
- I Discovered Chan/Zen Buddhism And Studied It Extensively
- I'm Considerably Familiar With It
- I Know A Little Bit About Chan/Zen Buddhism
- I've Just Heard The Term - Never Looked Into It Much
- I'm Not Really Interested In The Subject
Answer the question at dpoll.xyz.