From R.H. Blyth: “In conclusion, let us say that Shakespeare had a religion, a religion which could ask and answer the question which Macduff asked, when his wife and children were all murdered at one fell swoop: ‘Did heaven look on, And would not take their part?’ What is the answer to the question? ItContinue reading “Quote of the day 06/10/25”
Tag Archives: zen
Quote of the day 06/09/25
From R.H. Blyth: “It is only the simple but far-reaching fact that Goodness is on the side of goodness rather than badness, that is to say, the fact that evil in its own nature destroys itself, that makes Iago a failure.”
Quote of the day 06/08/25
From R.H. Blyth: “In both good and evil there is Goodness, if only men can forget their praising and blaming and see it as it flows, in its activity.”
Quote of the day 06/07/25
From R.H. Blyth: “The scales are weighted, though ever so lightly, on the side of goodness and truth. Were this not so, how could we say, ‘Follow nature,’ ‘Know thyself’? Zen would become simply a participation in the Universal Suicide.”
Quote of the day 06/06/25
From R.H. Blyth: “The absolute value of things is infinite; our minds, which change according to our circumstances, that is, our necessities, decide that things are vile or precious.”
Quote of the day 06/05/25
From R.H. Blyth: “…when we think about ourselves, we are deeply conscious of our physical pains and pleasure, but if we forget ourselves, the body too, becoming one with the mind, is hardly aware of its pain and pleasure, cold and heat. How much our happiness depends upon the condition of our minds, is shownContinue reading “Quote of the day 06/05/25”
Quote of the day 06/04/25
From R.H. Blyth: “If only we can realise that we are born fools, if only we can attain to this state of absolute foolishness, where everything is good, we shall be like Sôshi’s drunkard, who when he falls out of a cart, though he injures himself, is not killed, because he is not thinking ofContinue reading “Quote of the day 06/04/25”
Quote of the day 06/03/25
From R.H. Blyth: “We do zazen, not to get anything, but to throw away all we have and to throw away even the idea that we are throwing something away. ‘A still-soliciting eye.’ This is the precise opposite of Wordsworth’s ‘a quiet eye’; it is the disease of the mind, to be always, incessantly, evenContinue reading “Quote of the day 06/03/25”
Quote of the day 06/01/25
From R.H. Blyth: “I have already given my interpretation of what are called figures of speech and will now give a definition of imagination as the faculty was exercised by Wordsworth himself. It is the power by which we become so united, or better, by which we realise our original unity with persons, things, situations,Continue reading “Quote of the day 06/01/25”
Quote of the day 05/31/25
From R.H. Blyth: “Zen says, Look within! Wordsworth says, Look without! but there is no more difference here than in the case of Self-Power and Other-Power. Self-Power is Other-Power, because Self is Other. Looking at the microcosm is looking at the macrocosm, for one without the other is meaningless.”