Open Hands ~ Deshimaru
To receive everything, one must open one’s hands and give. Taisen Deshimaru
Quote Archives: Taisen Deshimaru
Embracing all Opposites ~ 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
Our shell ~ Taisen Deshimaru
We feel our shell keeps us safe, but it crushes us and others, and keeps out light and sun. Taisen Deshimaru
Keep your hands open ~ Taisen Deshimaru
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
Meditation is drinking it ~ Taisen Deshimaru
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
Consecrate yourself wholly to each day ~ Taisen Deshimaru
You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair. Taisen Deshimaru
The distinctive quality of the Zen attitude ~ 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