Wherever you are is the entry point.

~Kabir
@GatelessGate

He dwelt in the forest a long time, but I caught him today! Infatuation for scenery interferes with his direction. Longing for sweeter grass, he wanders away. His mind still is stubborn and unbridled. If I wish him to submit, I must raise my whip.

~The Ten Bulls of Zen
@GatelessGate

Every addiction arises from an unconscious refusal to face and move through your own pain. Every addiction starts with pain and ends with pain.

~Eckhart Tolle
@GatelessGate

God picks up the reed-flute
world and blows.
Each note is a need coming
through one of us, a passion, a longing pain.
Remember the lips where the wind-breath originated,
and let your note be clear.
Don’t try to end it.

Be your note.

I’ll show you how it’s enough.
Go up on the roof at night in this city of the soul.
Let everyone climb on their roofs
and sing their notes!
Sing loud!

~Rumi
@GatelessGate

"Calm waters of your mind, and the universe and the stars will be reflected in your soul."

~Rumi
@GatelessGate

Your longing for me is my message to you,
All your attempts to reach me,
Are in reality my attempts to reach you.

~Rumi
@GatelessGate

If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?

~Rumi
@GatelessGate

When one thought arises, another thought follows. When the first thought springs from enlightenment, all subsequent thoughts are true. Through delusion, one makes everything untrue. Delusion is not caused by objectivity; it is the result of subjectivity. Hold the nose-ring tight and do not allow even a doubt.

~The Ten Bulls of Zen
@GatelessGate

A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, “I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it.”

The teacher’s reply was casual, “Ten years.” Impatiently, the student answered, “But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?”

The teacher thought for a moment, “20 years.”

~Zen Story
@GatelessGate

Noticing that his father was growing old, the son of a burglar asked his father to teach him the trade so that he could carry on the family business after his father had retired.

The father agreed, and that night they broke into a house together.
Opening a large chest the father told his son to go in and pick out the clothing. As soon as the boy was inside, the father locked the chest and then made a lot of noise so that the whole house was aroused. Then he slipped quietly away.

Locked inside the chest the boy was angry, terrified, and puzzled as to how he was going to get out. Then an idea flashed to him- he made a noise like a cat. The family told a maid to take a candle and examine the chest. When the lid was unlocked the boy jumped out, blew the candle, pushed his way past the astonished maid, and ran out. The people ran after him. Noticing a well by the side of the road the boy threw in a large stone, then hid in the darkness. The pursuers gathered around the well trying to see the burglar drowning himself.

When the boy got home he was very angry at his father and he tried to tell him the story; but the father said: 'Don't bother to tell me the details, you are here- you have learned the art.

~Zen Story
@GatelessGate

Those who worship don't know, and those who know don't worship.

~Bodhidharma
@GatelessGate

If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

~Dogen
@GatelessGate

The past has no power over the present moment.

~Eckhart Tolle
@GatelessGate

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?

~Gautama Buddha
@GatelessGate

Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave.

~George Ivanovich Gurdjieff
@GatelessGate

This struggle is over; gain and loss are assimilated. I sing the song of the village woodsman, and play the tunes of the children. Astride the bull, I observe the clouds above. Onward I go, no matter who may wish to call me back.

~The Ten Bulls of Zen
@GatelessGate

No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.

~Heraclitus
@GatelessGate

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

~Jiddu Krishnamurti
@GatelessGate

All is one law, not two. We only make the bull a temporary subject. It is as the relation of rabbit and trap, of fish and net. It is as gold and dross, or the moon emerging from a cloud. One path of clear light travels on throughout endless time.

~The Ten Bulls of Zen
@GatelessGate

Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
you will not find me in the stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms, nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals:
not in masses, nor kirtans, not in legs winding around your own neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly — you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath

~Kabir
@GatelessGate