Sign in with Facebook
24 books
—
13 voters
“Men of the world who value the Way all turn to books. But books are nothing more than words. Words have value; what is of value in words is meaning. Meaning has something it is pursuing, but the thing that it is pursuing cannot be put into words and handed down. The world values words and hands down books but, though the world values them, I do not think them worth valuing. What the world takes to be values is not real value.”
― The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu
― The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu
“You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it's going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt.”
― Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
― Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
“As soon as you concern yourself with the "good" and "bad" of your fellows, you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter. Testing, competing with, and criticizing others weakens and defeats you.”
― The Art of Peace
― The Art of Peace
“Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools.”
―
―
“If a man crosses a river
and an empty boat collides with his own skiff,
Even though he be bad tempered man
He will not become very angry.
But if he sees a man in the boat,
He will shout at him to steer clear.
If the shout is not heard, he will shout again, and yet again, and begin cursing.
And all because someone is in the boat.
Yet if the boat were empty,
He would not be shouting, and not angry.
If you can empty your own boat
Crossing the river of the world,
No one will oppose you,
No one will seek to harm you”
―
and an empty boat collides with his own skiff,
Even though he be bad tempered man
He will not become very angry.
But if he sees a man in the boat,
He will shout at him to steer clear.
If the shout is not heard, he will shout again, and yet again, and begin cursing.
And all because someone is in the boat.
Yet if the boat were empty,
He would not be shouting, and not angry.
If you can empty your own boat
Crossing the river of the world,
No one will oppose you,
No one will seek to harm you”
―
Zen Buddhism
— 209 members
— last activity Aug 15, 2022 12:17AM
Discussion of books about Zen Buddhism in general and American Zen in particular.
Jonn’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Jonn’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
3,921 books
|
391 friends
890 books
|
30 friends
1,376 books
|
188 friends
2,241 books
|
133 friends
319 books
|
88 friends
521 books
|
146 friends
69 books
|
83 friends
917 books
|
65 friends
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Jonn
Lists liked by Jonn
