Best 9 quotes of Sheng-yen on MyQuotes

Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Follow the stream, have faith in its course. It will go on its own way, meandering here, trickling there. It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. Just follow it. Never let it out of your sight. It will take you.

Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall.

Do not ask for less responsibility to be free and relaxed-ask for more strength!

I follow four dictates: face it, accept it, deal with it, then let it go.

In meditation, silently and serenely, all words are transcended. In Illumination, all things appear as is. Silence is the ceasing of ego-grasping. Illumination is the functioning of the wonder of wisdom. The unity of these two is awakening to Buddha Nature.

Those who do not have faith in others will not be able to stand on their own.

Any method can settle the mind in the present moment, but with Silent Illumination you can be relieved of even the present moment. Just take this attitude: don’t worry about the past or the future, and let go of the present too. Just stay in awareness. Chan is called the “gateless gate” because it has no door to enlightenment.

The enlightened mind is like a bird in flight that leaves no trace of its path. People will say, “A bird just flew by.” In their mind, there is a trace of the bird’s path. This is attachment. For the enlightened practitioner, that moment is already gone—the bird has left no trace of its flight. Like the bird, from moment to moment the enlightened practitioner’s actions do not leave any trace.

To have self-esteem and to function in society, ordinary people usually place their mind on something; they need to identify themselves with something. People with the least spiritual capacity identify their minds with fame, fortune, and other kinds of self-benefit. People with mediocre spiritual capacity identify their minds with their family, career, and relations with others. People with high spiritual capacity generate compassion and place their minds on the benefit of others. Only people with the most superior spiritual capacity have no mind to place anywhere. This is like the ox, whose mind, while having no fixed agenda, is free to respond to circumstances.