Get your Tao / Advaita Vedanta / Ikkyu-esque Zen quotes on.

[ledbyher]

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”
― Ram Dass

“As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can't see how it is.”
― ram dass

 

[Zopiclone bandit]

“Be true to the thought of the moment and avoid distraction. Other than continuing to exert yourself, enter into nothing else, but go to the extent of living single thought by single thought.”
― Tsunetomo Yamamoto

He wrote the Hagakure.

“Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one’s body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one’s master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead”

 

[Zopiclone bandit]

“Enlightenment is a destructive process. It
has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the
crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing
through the facade of pretence. It's the
complete eradication of everything we
imagined to be true.”
― Adyashanti

I love Adyashanti, he was on Buddha At The Gas Pump ages ago which is where I learned about him.

 

[Zopiclone bandit]

“Be true to the thought of the moment and avoid distraction. Other than continuing to exert yourself, enter into nothing else, but go to the extent of living single thought by single thought.”
― Tsunetomo Yamamoto

You know Dokkodo by Miyamoto Musashi? He did the book "The Book of 5 Rings" before he left to go live in on a Cliff & spend his days in meditation.
He was a Ronin who had over 20 fights to the death & never lost.

Dokkodo.
1. Accept everything just the way it is

2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake

3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling

4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world

5. Be detached from desire your whole life long

6. Do not regret what you have done

7. Never be jealous

8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation

9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself or others

10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love

11. In all things have no preferences

12. Be indifferent to where you live

13. Do not pursue the taste of good food

14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need

15. Do not act following customary beliefs

16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful

17. Do not fear death

18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age

19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help

20. You may abandon your own body, but you must preserve your honour

21. Never stray from the Way

 

[Chaurus]

Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere.

Lao Tzu

Also depends on the translation.

My favorite Dutch translation is more along the lines of this:

Elegant words aren't true, true words aren't elegant. (note the re-arrangement of the adjectives)

I do not speak Chinese or read it (or whichever language Lao Tzu wrote in) but we translated in grammar school.

 

[Cheshire_Kat]

Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere.

Lao Tzu

Also depends on the translation.

My favorite Dutch translation is more along the lines of this:

Elegant words aren't true, true words aren't elegant. (note the re-arrangement of the adjectives)

I do not speak Chinese or read it (or whichever language Lao Tzu wrote in) but we translated in grammar school.

Lao Tzu used Classical Chinese written in Seal Script.

 

[Zopiclone bandit]

 

[Zopiclone bandit]

@Foreigner Check this out.