Quotes Page 4

The Master said, "If you do not become irritated about why you cannot understand it, I will not teach you.
When you cannot easily express it though you can inwardly understand it, if you are not fretful I will not guide you.
When I explain one angle to you, if you do not answer the other three using your brain I will not repeat my lesson."

-- Yoshita Furukawa, the Analects of Confucius excerpted in Roots of the Japanese Mind © 1968 Tokyo, Japan

"We know nothing about our fate; we are almost blind to our destinations(s).
What is motivating us? Our decisions? Our choices? Something else?
We are always trying to see the relationship between decisions, choices and the 'fate' of all beings."

-- Hogen Yamahata, from his book On the Open Way © 1991 Jiko Oasis Books

"It is ultimately possible to become a Bodhisattva; it is equally possible for one to become an instrument of devilish ego."

-- Hogen Yamahata, from his book On the Open Way © 1991 Jiko Oasis Books

"It is easier, it seems, to run into death as 'spiritual soldiers', than it is to free ourselves from our 'stony-headed' convictions."

-- Hogen Yamahata, from his book On the Open Way © 1991 Jiko Oasis Books

"We practice sitting meditation, but for what? For some specific reason?
What we need to do is just sit in this cosmic Here-Now fully.
Sitting Zen is alive, yet peaceful; it does not need to go anywhere."

-- Unknown

"When shall we finally realize that to need nothing is best? Not even good luck is necessary!
All we really need is to return to our original simplicity. This is the open way for us all."

-- Hogen Yamahata, from his book On the Open Way © 1991 Jiko Oasis Books

"Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe."

-- John Milton

"Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art."

-- Leonardo Da Vinci

"Progress comes to those who train and train; reliance on secret techniques will get you nowhere."

-- O-Sensei

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.
You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."

-- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire.
Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired."

-- Martha Graham

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

-- Martin Luther King, Jr

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

-- a Chinese proverb

"Reviewing a lesson a hundred times cannot be compared to reviewing it a hundred and one times."

-- Rabbi Hillel

"Aiki is the power of harmony... Of all things, all things working together."

-- O-Sensei

"In Aikido we control the opponent's mind before we face him... drawing him into ourselves... going forward in life with this attraction of our spirit, and attempting to command a whole view of the world."

-- O-Sensei

"Seeing me before him the enemy attacks, but by that time I am already standing behind him."

-- O-Sensei

"True breathing means to breathe in unison with the universe. Then one gains the power of nature."

-- O-Sensei

"... It is not a question of speed. The fight is finished before it is begun."

-- O-Sensei

"... training is training in the path of human life."

-- O-Sensei

"The subtle working of ki is the maternal source that affects delicate changes of breath."

-- O-Sensei

"Surrounded by a forest of enemy spears - enter deeply and learn to use your mind as a shield."

-- O-Sensei

"A host of enemies rush into attack - think of them as a single foe and deal with them accordingly."

-- O-Sensei