d(100)Zen Saying

01Water which is too pure has no fish.

02The one who is good at shooting does not hit the center of the target.

03A heavy snowfall disappears into the sea. What silence!

04What is your face before your mother and father were born?

05When you can do nothing, what can you do?

06Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.

07When an ordinary man attains knowledge, he is a sage; when a sage attains understanding, he is an
ordinary man.

08Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened.

09Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else

10Three things can not hide for long: the Moon, the Sun and the Truth.

11Greater in battle than the man who would conquer a thousand-thousand men, is he who would
conquer just one – himself.

12However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do
not act on upon them?

13The greatest prayer is patience

14Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it

15Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

16As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise, you will miss most of your life.

17Do not carry the raft on your back after you have crossed the river.

18A solid rock is unshaken by the wind

19Remembering a wrong is like carrying a burden on the mind.

20Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past

21How blissful it is, for one who has nothing.

22Be a lamp unto yourself.

23Long is the night to him who is awake

24long is a mile to him who is tired

25He is able who thinks he is able.

26Our theories of the eternal are as valuable as are those that a chick which has not broken its way
through its shell might form of the outside world.

27Victory breeds hatred. The defeated live in pain. Happily the peaceful live, giving up victory and defeat

28There isn’t enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle.

29Contentment is the greatest wealth.

30Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind.

31Friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee of peace.

32The one who has conquered himself is a far greater hero than he who has defeated a thousand times
a thousand men.

33Silence the angry man with love. Silence the ill-natured man with kindness. Silence the miser with
generosity. Silence the liar with truth

34He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings

35Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to
wisdom.

36What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.

37In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west

38When you like a flower, you just pluck it. But when you love a flower, you water it daily.

39To be idle is a short road to death

40Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.

41rain falls equally on the just and the unjust

42The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.

43If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.

44There are only two mistakes one can make along the road; not going all the way, and not starting.

45Most problems, if you give them enough time and space, will eventually wear themselves out.

46If you are facing in the right direction, all you need to do is keep on walking.
47The darkest night is ignorance.

48A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker.

49If a traveler does not meet with one who is his better, or his equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary
journey; there is no companionship with a fool.

50Your actions are your only belongings.

51From a withered tree, a flower blooms.

52A jug fills drop by drop.

53There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.

54Wear your ego like a loose fitting garment.

55Few among men are they who cross to the further shore. The others merely run up and down the
bank on this side.

56Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.

57You only lose what you cling to.

58What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now.

59There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt.

60With our thoughts we make the world.

61Loud splashes the brook but the oceans depth are calm.

62Nothing is forever except change.

63It is better to travel, than to arrive.

64Even the wishes of an ant reach to heaven.

65With sincerity, there is virtue.

66It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

67Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.

68Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.

68Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

69Experience is a comb which nature gives us when we are bald.

70Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

71He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

72A closed mind is like a closed book; just a block of wood

73Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

74A needle is not sharp at both ends.

75Even a hare will bite when it is cornered.

76Habits are cobwebs at first; cables at last.

77Two good talkers are not worth one good listener.

78One beam, no matter how big, cannot support an entire house on its own.

79Distant water does not put out a nearby fire.

80There are two kinds of perfect people: those who are dead, and those who have not been born yet.

81A clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.

82It is easy to open a store - the hard part is keeping it open.

83To be totally at leisure for one day is to be immortal for one day.

84Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.

85Ripe fruit falls by itself - but it doesn't fall in your mouth.

86Men trip not on mountains they trip on molehills.

87A bird can roost but on one branch, a mouse can drink not more than its fill from a river.

88No matter how tall the mountain is, it cannot block the sun.

89Let what is past flow away downstream.

90You can't see the whole sky through a bamboo tube.

91Without oars, you cannot cross in a boat.

92It is the same life whether we spend it crying or laughing.

93Poor is the person who does not know when he has had enough.

94The deeper the waters are, the more still they run
95Even a fish wouldn't get into trouble if it kept its mouth shut.

96A turtle travels only when it sticks its neck out.

97Even if you encounter a stone bridge, tap it first before crossing.

98Put off for one day and ten days will pass.

99Cast no dirt into the well that gives you water.

100A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice,
he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him
from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him.
Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the
vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the
strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!

Notes: A list of Zen and Confuscian sayings, roll a d(100) and share your monk insights with your party.,