Dennis Merzel quotes

“To accept the truth of who you really are takes nothing short of realization. You have to see the diamond for yourself.”
-- Dennis Merzel

Source : Dennis Genpo Merzel (2005). “The Path of the Human Being: Zen Teachings on the Bodhisattva Way”, p.16, Shambhala Publications

#Acceptance Quotes #Realization Quotes #Accepting Quotes

“These various forms appear different in shape and size, yet they are of a single essence. . . . The Sixth Patriarch called it "essence of Mind". . . Here the Third Patriarch calls it "timeless Self-essence." Bankei called it "unborn Buddha-mind." They all refer to the same thing: Buddha-nature, true self. This essence is not born and can never die. It exists eternally. Some call it energy; others call it spirit. But what is it? No one knows. Any concept we have of what it is can only be an analogy. . . .”
-- Dennis Merzel

#Self Quotes #Essence Quotes #Mind Quotes

“True zazen is surrendering every moment. But surrendering to what? It really does not matter what we call it: God or the Tao or the Dharma or the Buddha or our true nature. . . . It is the act of letting go, of surrendering, that matters. The very act of letting go opens us up completely.”
-- Dennis Merzel

Source : Dennis Genpo Merzel (1991). “The Eye Never Sleeps”, p.49, Shambhala Publications

#Letting Go Quotes #Taoism Quotes #Doe Quotes

“Because of our belief in being separate, we fall into all kinds of harmful actions and deeds that create more problems for us. Competitiveness is a big one—trying to get ahead of others, stepping on each other. We become frustrated and angry with each other. We try to control others; we condemn them. All of these things stem from one false belief, “I am apart, separate from everything else.”
-- Dennis Merzel

Source : Dennis Genpo Merzel (2001). “24/7 Dharma: Impermanence, No-Self, Nirvana”, Journey Editions

#Fall Quotes #Frustrated Quotes #Trying Quotes

“When we really let go, we become everything. At that point we are identified with all things: the flower, the oak tree, the morning star.”
-- Dennis Merzel

Source : Dennis Genpo Merzel (1991). “The Eye Never Sleeps: Striking to the Heart of Zen”, Shambhala Publications

#Letting Go Quotes #Morning Quotes #Stars Quotes

“The Mind cannot be confused, but it is confusion.”
-- Dennis Merzel

#Buddhist Quotes #Confused Quotes #Confusion Quotes

“So if we look at progress, or evolution, or we look at accomplishment in our life, the key is to be continually moving on, expanding and growing, clarifying, developing and maturing. The opposite would be getting stuck, staying stuck, so there's no maturing, no developing, no accomplishing, no movement.”
-- Dennis Merzel

Source : Dennis Genpo Merzel (2007). “Big Mind, Big Heart: Finding Your Way”, Big Mind Pub

#Moving Quotes #Keys Quotes #Opposites Quotes

“There is a transcendent awareness, a Big Mind, a Big Heart, present and readily accessible to each and every one of us. When we realize it, we see it is the source of true peace, happiness, satisfaction, courage and joy.”
-- Dennis Merzel

#Heart Quotes #Thinking Quotes #Joy Quotes

“Acceptance is supposed to be a good thing - Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Also compromise, as every couples therapist will tell you. But the cost was high - the damping of expectation, the dwindling of spirit, the resignation that comes to replace enthusiasm, the cynicism that supplants hope. The mouldering that goes unnoticed and unchecked.”

Source : A. S. A. Harrison (2013). “The Silent Wife: A Novel”, p.143, Penguin

“Life is precious. We should not take anything for granted. Living every moment as if it was our first and last is a genuine life of gratitude, acceptance and wisdom.”

“Everybody should do in their lifetime, sometime, two things. One is to consider death...to observe skulls and skeletons and to wonder what it will be like to go to sleep and never wake up-never. That is a most gloomy thing for contemplation; it's like manure. Just as manure fertilizes the plants and so on, so the contemplation of death and the acceptance of death is very highly generative of creating life. You'll get wonderful things out of that.”

“Anyone who is steady in his determination for the advanced stage of spiritual realization and can equally tolerate the onslaughts of distress and happiness is certainly a person eligible for liberation.”

“The realization of justice is, in the actual state of things, a matter of life or death for society and for civilisation itself.”

“The more aspiration is partial realization.”

“It's part of the general global hypnotism to accept lies as the new truth.”

Source : Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

“Inability to accept the mystic experience is more than an intellectual handicap.”

“There is nothing so wrong as accepting a thing merely because men who have done things say it should be so.”

Source : Dorothy Norman, Alfred Stieglitz (1973). “Alfred Stieglitz: an American seer”

“Happiness is lost by criticizing it; sorrow by accepting it.”