There seems to be no one on the empty mountain,
And yet I think I hear a voice,

– Wang Wei

The moment we are illumined within
We bypass all barriers.

– Seng-ts-an (d.606)

Don’t be surprised,
Don’t be startled;
All things will arrange themselves.

– Huai-nan-tzu

The first thing is not to grasp
The void.
If you sit in meditation
With an empty mind,
You will grasp the
Unrecordable voidness.

– Altar Sutra

It’s good to grow old content.
Cold and heat change my appearance;
The pearl of my mind stays safe

– Han-shan

The practice of true reality
Is simply to sit serenely
In silent introspection.

– Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157)

Inside each sunset.
Trying to talk about it,
I have forgotten the words.

– Tao Yuan Ming (365–427)

“Another year about to end
In my empty mountain abode;
Rivers and clouds,
Their trails indistinct;
Pines and cedars,
Their natures the same.
I arise from my nap
To find the taro roots done;
As the incense fades out,
I finish a scripture.
Who knows that real pleasure
Lies within stillness and silence? ”
– Wen-siang (1210-1280)

Never under any
Circumstances say that
Meditation and wisdom
Are different;
They are one unity,
Not two things.

– Hui-neng (638-713)

I like bamboo as the symbol
of constancy and simplicity.
I built my house deep within a grove.
Strike the bamboo
with a piece of brick.
Perhaps the sound could
awaken a passing Zen monk

– Jakushitsu (died 1368)