Awakened to this subtle sound.
The nature of body and mind
Is wonderful;
Their functions
Need not be altered.

– Master Fu (497-569)

And this nature is the mind.
And the mind is the buddha.
And the buddha is the path.
And the path is zen.
But the word zen is one that remains a puzzle to both mortals an sages.
Seeing your nature is zen.
Unless you see your nature, it’s not zen.

– Bodhidharma (d. 533)

In field nor mountain,
Nothing stirs
On this snowy morning.

– Chiyo-Ni (1701-1775)

Cold clouds bringing rain
Into the crannies of the mountains:
Everyone was born with the same sort of eyes –
Why do mine keep seeing things as Zen koans?

– Dogen

With one who does not
Speak his every thought
I spend a pleasant evening.

– Hyakuchi (1748-1836)

Oh leaves,
Ask the wind which of you
Will be the first to fall.

– Soseki (1867-1916)

Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.

Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.

“Come on, girl” said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.

Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. “We monks don’t go near females,” he told Tanzan, “especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?”

“I left the girl there,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”

No one passes by
The only ones who visit
Are the drifting clouds.

– Han-shan Te-ch’ing (1546-1623)

If you cling to emptiness and linger
In quiescence, you will bob and sink

Therefore the wise release the mind
To be independent and free.

– Fu Shan-hui (487-659)

Death is light as a feather
Duty as heavy as a mountain
– Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time)