These 75 Zen quotes and sayings will relax, uplift, and inspire you. As well as being about acceptance, finding peace and relaxation; Zen is also a form of Buddhism that emphasises enlightment through meditation.
As you read these Zen phrases, we hope that you will feel a sense of balance and grounding, whilst realizing that everything you need in life is exactly where you are; inside of you.
Read on to discover your Zen thought for the day and share your favorite image in Pinterest if you love our quotes. Love and light your way!
Zen Quotes
1. “Let go, or be dragged.” – Zen Proverb
2. “Zen is not some fancy, special art of living. Our teaching is just to live, always in reality, in its exact sense.” – Shunryu Suzuki
3. “When thoughts arise, then do all things arise. When thoughts vanish, then do all things vanish.” – Huang Po
4. “Do not follow the idea of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.” – Dōgen Zenji
5. “Each morning, we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” – Buddha
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6. “Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.” – Jack Kornfield
7. “Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” – Pema Chödrön
8. “To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.” – Buddha
9. “Respect life, revere life. There is nothing more holy than life, nothing more divine than life.” – Osho
10. “Relax. Nothing’s missing.” – Maxime Lagacé
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11. “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” – Dalai Lama
12. “Man stands in his own shadow and wonders why it is dark.” – Zen Proverb
13. “Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.” – Shunryu Suzuki
14. “Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.” – Rumi
15. “Every experience is a lesson. Every loss is a gain.” – Sathya Sai Baba
16. “Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” – Dalai Lama
17. “Those who are awake, live in a state of constant amazement.” – Buddha
18. “Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing.” – Tilopa
19. “Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.” – Zen Proverb
20. “Wherever you are, be there totally.” – Eckhart Tolle
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21. “The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.” – Eric Hoffer
22. “If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.” – Lao Tzu
23. “To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh
24. “Do not look for a sanctuary in anyone except your self.” – Buddha
25. “The resistance to the unpleasant situation is the root of suffering.”– Ram Dass
26. “The trouble is, you think you have time.” – Buddha
27. “Life isn’t as serious as the mind makes it out to be.” – Eckhart Tolle
28. “Happiness is here, and now.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh
29. “Awareness is the greatest agent for change.” – Eckhart Tolle
30. “When you think everything is someone else fault, you will suffer a lot. When you realize that everything springs only from yourself, you will learn both peace and joy.” – Dalai Lama
31. “Wherever you are, it’s the place you need to be.” – Maxime Lagacé
32. “If you realize you have enough, you are truly rich.” – Lao Tzu
33. “To a mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.” – Chuang Tzu
34. “I don’t mind what happens. That is the essence of inner freedom.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
35. “When I feel like dancing, I dance. I don’t care if anyone else is dancing or if everyone else is laughing at me. I dance.” – Rachel Danson
36. “In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light.” – Dōgen Zenji
37. “When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” – Lao Tzu
38. “To understand everything is to forgive everything.” – Buddha
39. “To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.” – Thich Nhat Hạnh
40. “To receive everything, one must open one’s hands and give.” – Taisen Deshimaru
41. “Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.”– Zen Proverb
42. “What was never lost can never be found.” – Zen Proverb
43. “Everything that happens to you is a form of instruction if you pay attention.” – Robert Greene
44. “The true miracle is not walking on water or walking in air, but simply walking on this earth.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh
45. “The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands.” – Robert M. Pirsig
46. “The feeling that any task is a nuisance will soon disappear if it is done in mindfulness.” – Thich Nhat Hahn
47. “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tzu
48. “To accept some idea of truth without experiencing it is like a painting of a cake on paper which you cannot eat.” – Suzuki Roshi
49. “To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss.” – Bodhidharma
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50. “The less you try to impress, the more peaceful you can be.” – Maxime Lagacé
51. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
52. “Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst.” – Lin Yutang
53. “Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” – Dalai Lama
54. “The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” – Dalai Lama
55. “When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original selves.” – Dogen
57. “All that we are, is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.” ― Buddha
58. “Smile, breathe and go slowly.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh
59. “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” – Bruce Lee
60. “The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your two feet.” – Shunryu Suzuki
61. “Learn to be comfortable in adversity but most importantly, learn to be comfortable when you’re bored.” – Maxime Lagacé
62. “Rest and be kind, you don’t have to prove anything.” – Jack Kerouac
63. “Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.” – Buddha
64. “Self-realization is effortless. What you are trying to find is what you already are.”- Ramesh Balsekar
65. “The noble-minded are calm and steady. Little people are forever fussing and fretting.” – Confucius
66. “Don’t seek, don’t search, don’t ask, don’t knock, don’t demand – relax.” – Osho
67. “Wise men don’t judge – they seek to understand.” – Wei Wu Wei
68. “The real meditation is how you live your life.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
69. “When walking, walk. When eating, eat.” – Zen Proverb
70. “There is no mistake in nature.”- Byron Katie
71. “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” – Lao Tzu
72. “To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss.” – Bodhidharma
73. “We do not exist for the sake of something else. We exist for the sake of ourselves.” – Shunryu Suzuki
74. “What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.” – Confucius
75. “Smile, breathe and go slowly.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh
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Holly Jaskolka is a certified Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner, yoga instructor, and an impassioned advocate for holistic well-being. Fueled by her love for animals and wanderlust, Holly leads a plant-based lifestyle that she complements with immersive travel experiences. When she’s not jet-setting to uncover the world’s hidden gems, she’s empowering individuals to heal emotionally, particularly those grappling with the aftermath of breakups. Connect with Holly on LinkedIn.
