Katsuki Sekida > Quotes

“While you are conscious of being a Buddha, you are not truly a Buddha, because you are ensnared by the idea. You are not empty.”
― Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy

“To cast off the delusive way of ordinary consciousness while sitting on a cushion in a quiet room is only the beginning. The student must learn to live in the ordinary world, while yet retaining the quality of his experience of absolute samadhi.”
― Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy

“One may practice zazen for twenty, thirty, even fifty years, and go through failures and frustrations, but every defeat and time of despair is in reality a gain rather than a loss. Any experience is to be regarded as a part of one’s assets.”
― Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy

“Zen is above all a matter of personal experience. The student is asked to accept nothing the truth of which he cannot demonstrate for himself, with his own mind and body.”
― Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy

“. Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy (New York and Tokyo: Weatherhill, 1975; Boston: Shambhala, 2005).”
― Katsuki Sekida, Two Zen Classics: The Gateless Gate and The Blue Cliff Records

“Zen training is a means of enabling us to live our ordinary lives supremely well.”
― Katsuki Sekida, Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy