Dogen said we must penetrate this moment, again and again, forever. This is the most important thing we can do. There is nothing to change, nothing to hold on to, nothing to get caught by. All we have to do is constantly approach this very moment with a true heart.
—Katagiri Roshi
All is revealed as it is now.
All is realized as it is now.
All is enlightened as it is now.
OK!
— Soen Nakagawa
You only live once. Keep yourself in the present. The past is gone, and the future is unknown.
— Tempu Nakamura
Imagine someone comes to you and announces that you will die tomorrow. How will you spend your last day? What entertainment could you find? How would you busy yourself? And how is this day we are now living different from this final day? We inevitably waste most of each day in eating and drinking, defecating, sleeping, talking and walking about. For the tiny remainder of our time, we do worthless things, speak worthless words, think worthless thoughts. And not only do we pass the moments in this way, but whole days, whole months pass thus—a lifetime. This is supreme folly. Lose for a moment your grasp of the passing instant and you are as good as dead. You ask why time should be so precious? It is so that you may concentrate the mind on banishing all idle thoughts, refrain from engaging in worldly matters and meditate if this is what you choose, or perform austerities if that is your chosen path.
—Yoshida Kenkō
No matter where we are, no matter what we face, we have to take care of this moment. That’s all.
—Katagiri Roshi
