"When other sects speak well of Zen, the first thing that they praise is its poverty."

Dōgen Literature See all quotes by Dōgen →

React to this quote

More by Dōgen

“Just practice good, do good for others, without thinking of making yourself known so that you may gain reward. Really bring benefit to others, gaining nothing for yourself. This is the primary requisite for breaking free of attachments to the Self.”

“Because monks come from the midst of purity, they consider as good and pure what does not arouse desire among other people.”

“It is only due to a lack of heart for the Way and a lack of skill in handling their daily conduct that people become vainly tied to fame and gain.”

“Something you want badly enough can always be gained. No matter how fierce the enemy, how remote the beautiful lady, or how carefully guarded the treasure, there is always a means to the goal for the earnest seeker. The unseen help of the guardian gods of heaven and earth assure fulfillment.”

“A collection of dharma texts translated by Ven. Anzan Hoshin roshi. Various Dogen texts here.”

“If he cannot stop the mind that seeks after fame and profit, he will spend his life without finding peace.”

Resonant Thoughts

"It should be of the pleasure of a poem itself to tell how it can. The figure a poem makes. It begins in delight and ends in wisdom. The figure is the same as for love. No one can really hold that the …"

— Robert Frost

Literature1874–1963

#happiness

"Sympathy, consciousness of kind, means simply the realization or the conscious recognition by living beings of the kinship of content. A human being unconscious of kind, an unsympathetic and inhuman p…"

— J. Howard Moore

Philosophy1862–1916

#money

"Paresis, as it is generally called in preference to the old GPI or general paralysis of the insane, is characterized by symptoms of bewildering variety, confirming the description of syphilis as the G…"

— Anthony Burgess

Music1917–1993

#money

"I think the unique thing about music and graphic art is as oposed to, say, acting and directing, that if you are good you can always create a place for yourself. In acting, for instance, there's only …"

— Cass Elliot

Music1941–1974

#music