Soto Zen Quotes

“It took me some time to realize I wasn’t experiencing my experience.”
― Katherine Thanas, The Truth of This Life: Zen Teachings on Loving the World as It Is

“The very sense of wondering is God wondering.”
― Brad Warner, There Is No God and He Is Always with You: A Search for God in Odd Places

“It is well known that Sōtō Zen for laypersons since at least the fourteenth century has been quite different than Sōtō training designed for monks or nuns in terms of incorporating popular practices such as divination, pilgrimage, posthumous ordination, and the veneration of indigenous deities in pursuit of healing and the gaining of worldly benefits. Thus, a great number of the approximately 15,000 Sōtō institutions (this number, confirmed in recent surveys, includes a small number of monastic training centers and a very large number of local temples) are designated prayer temples.”
― Steven Heine, Zen Skin, Zen Marrow: Will the Real Zen Buddhism Please Stand Up?

“One of the legacies of the popularization campaign is that some of the most prominent Sōtō temples are associated with shamanistic and esoteric practices. They are best known to their congregations of lay followers for espousing a syncretic approach to attaining worldly benefits, such as prosperity, fertility, or safety during travels, rather than for traditional Zen practices of meditation and monastic discipline.”
― Steven Heine, Zen Skin, Zen Marrow: Will the Real Zen Buddhism Please Stand Up?

“Cuando era un joven monje ponía todo mi empeño en alcanzar el satori. Fueoka Ryoun roshi me dio una lección para toda la vida: “No hay razón para ponerse nervioso, Kodo. Te comportas como alguien a quien le cuelga de la nariz un resto de mierda y se pregunta: '¿quién se ha tirado un pedo?' Mientras busques de esta manera nunca encontrarás nada”.”
― Kodo Sawaki, El Zen es la mayor patraña de todos los tiempos