Quote of the day

One day someone asked Layman P'ang: "Is Zen difficult or is it easy?"
"It is like trying to hit the moon with a stick," Layman P'ang answered Very difficult."
So Zen is very difficult, the man thought. He went to Layman P'ang's wife and said" "Your husband told me that Zen is very difficult. Let me ask you - is Zen difficult or easy?"
She laughed and said: "Oh no, Zen is very easy, like touching your nose when you wash your face in the morning."
Still not satisfied, the man went to Layman P'ang's son and repeated what the husband and wife told him. The son replied: "If you think Zen is difficult, it's difficult. If you think Zen is easy, it's easy."
Now more confused than ever, the man went to Layman P'an's daughter and asked if Zen was difficult or easy or neither. Her enlightening answer:
"Go drink tea."
- Zen mondo
(Zen page-a-day calendar - Tuesday 4 November 2008)

This matter [i.e., Zen] is like a great mass of fire; when you approach it your face is sure to be scorched. It is again like a sword about to be drawn; when it is once out of the scabbard, someone is sure to lose his life. But if you neither fling away the scabbard nor approach the fire, you are no better than a piece of rock or wood. Coming to this pass one has to be quite a resolute character full of spirit.
- Tai-hui
(Zen page-a-day calendar - Wednesday 5 November 2008)