If one day, someone who cannot return vanishes, or someone you cannot bear to leave departs, it is alright. Time will eventually bring the right person to your side; until then, your priority is to take good care of yourself.
To be a boatman is to accept. As long as there is faith and a willingness to accept the Buddha's teachings, the Dharma is like a boat that can carry us to the other shore, free from suffering.
What is "self-nature"? It is Buddha-nature and emptiness. Why can one attain enlightenment by "reflecting on one's own nature"? Because the Tao exists in all things and within one's own soul. By becoming aware of one's self-nature, one naturally attains great enlightenment. As the Zen verse says: "Know that there is treasure within your own home; do not seek it aimlessly outside."
In dealing with the world, one need not seek credit; avoiding mistakes is merit enough. In dealing with others, one need not seek gratitude; avoiding resentment is virtue enough. In life, there is no need to struggle for glory; simply having no faults is a form of achievement. Helping others does not require a demand for repayment; as long as there is no resentment, you have fulfilled the duty of kindness.
There is no need to care about the gaze of others, just walk your own path. There is no need for excessive complaints, as they only weigh down the heart. Wherever you go and however you walk, strive to find happiness without losing yourself. If life is like tea, then encountering the cruelty of the world is a process of refinement. The capacity of one's heart determines the amount of suffering it can endure.
Life is merely a process, both long and short. While heaven grants us life, it also provides many obstacles. Because of these setbacks, we may feel sadness or grief, but we must never stop smiling.
Learning how to reconcile with oneself, how to live with solitude, and how to coexist with time is a mandatory lesson for everyone. This nourishment permeates slowly, like nutrients, so it is best to learn this lesson as early as possible.
When someone achieves something special without training, we call them a genius. This is a blessing, but if one's talent is not used correctly, it holds no value.
A smile is our weapon against pain and trouble. A smile is a magic wand that transforms the subtle and complex emotions between people; it is a seasoning that makes bitterness sweet and fragrant. Smiling people are angels. Gradually, you will realize how simple and pure human relationships can truly be.
Some say, "Five hundred glances in a past life are exchanged for a single brush with fate in this one." I believe you are the promise I made five hundred years ago; otherwise, why would your silhouette float in the misty light of the rain? Why would we feel so deeply connected without ever having met? Why does the pain of longing surge through my whole body as I look toward you?
If you do not come, I shall truly grow old. Do you know that even the most beautiful companions cannot withstand the flowing river of time? If I truly grow old and you come to find me, I shall never meet you. I will hide in the deep mountains and forests so you never see my face weathered by the years, for I fear your hand touching my hair and seeing it turned white, and I fear your gaze falling upon my face and seeing the marks carved by time.
The wise use their supreme intellect and hands to carve out their own unique sky and build the stage for their existence.
Manage your life well and do not let it go to waste. Keep striving, for only through striving can you possess everything you desire.
In childhood, happiness was a tangible thing—delicious food or fun toys. As we grow, happiness becomes a state of being—a calm countenance or a peaceful mind. Until one day, we realize that happiness is actually an awakening—an insight into life and a realization of human existence.
One builds a monument behind them so that others know they once existed in this world.
No matter what choices you make or what paths you take, there will inevitably be moments of future regret.
If you try to find the virtues in everyone and look for your own flaws rather than your shortcomings, your interactions with others will be much less painful.
The greatest joy in life is finding happiness within suffering. Do not torment yourself for anyone or anything—worry, sadness, and depression are burdens for the foolish. Learn to endure pain. Some words are meant to stay in the heart, and some pains are meant to be forgotten in silence. Once you have experienced them and grown, you will know within yourself. Many changes require no explanation; the facts speak for themselves. Because we let go, we find happiness.
I am not the champion, I am not the champion—who is! The winner takes all, and the loser is cast aside. You lot are the outsiders; friends can be made, but there is only one champion.
Spend at least ten minutes every day in meditation. One must have time for solitude, for stillness breeds wisdom.
A date is like a mutual interview; everyone wants to be hired, while simultaneously evaluating whether they want to hire the other.
To those who see through things, everywhere is full of life; to those who do not, everywhere is a predicament. Those who can take responsibility find it everywhere; those who cannot find only negligence. Those who can let go find the Great Way; those who cannot find only lost paths. Those who think positively find spring everywhere; those who cannot find only withered decay. The power to decide what kind of person you are lies within yourself; the power to decide what kind of life you lead also lies within you.
An elderly couple, having walked through most of life together, make sure to say "I love you" to each other every night before sleep.
Whether it is truth or falsehood, when the false acts as the true, the true also becomes false; the rolling dust of the mortal world is deceptive, where the real is unreal and the unreal is real.
Loving one's children does not mean one necessarily loves one's mother; loving one's mother does mean one loves one's children; and loving those who are not one's own naturally leads to loving one's partner.
Now, my parents rest eternally beneath the trees by the shore, no longer needing to endure the sufferings of life or the hardships of living. The toil, the poverty, and the torment of illness have all turned into drifting clouds, floating toward the horizon.
The things you complain about most are often the things you most need to do.
Youth is wonderful; step out boldly, embrace the baptism of wind and rain, and forge a heart of patience, openness, and wisdom.
Salt cannot hurt you unless you have an open wound. Whenever you feel hurt, it is because you are already wounded; thus, even a casual touch makes you sensitive and reactive, causing you to demand that others take responsibility for your wounds.
The feeling of instability sometimes keeps our souls alert, for life can so easily overwhelm us.
