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ZenQuote

Here is my favorite Zen quote. I heard about it in "Zen-Buddhismus und Psychoanalyse" (engl. Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis) by Erich Fromm, Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, and Richard de Martino. I then searched the net using Google and found the full story.

http://www.kwanumzen.com/pzc/oldnewsletter/v04n01-1976-january-TheStoryOfDaeJu.html

Here's what I find the best description of what Zen and enlightenment (Satori) is all about.

Dae-Ju said, "Zen is very easy. It is not difficult at all. When I am hungry, I eat; when I am tired, I sleep.''

The Sutra Master said, "This is doing the same as all people do. Attaining Satori and not attaining are then the same.''

"No, no, people on the outside and on the inside are different.''

The Sutra Master said, ''When I am hungry, I eat. When I am tired, I sleep. Why is the outside different from the inside?"

Dae-Ju said, "When people are hungry, they eat. Only the outside, the body, is eating. On the inside, they are thinking, and they have desire for money, fame, sex, food, and they feel anger. And so when they are tired, because of these wants, they do not sleep. So, the outside and the inside are different. But when I am hungry, I only eat. When I am tired, I only sleep. I have no thinking, and so I have no inside and no outside.''

(Back to ZenBuddhism.)


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