Of course, one who dies while sitting in zazen will never be unhappy. But it is nearly impossible to die in this manner if your body is suffering the pain of sickness. My own master (Gudō Kokushi) said, ‘Your zazen for one sitting is a lifetime of zazen.’ How edifying these words of his are.

A collection of short teachings to “seekers who would desire to go in the same way” originally compiled in 1670.

The translation here was published by The Eastern Buddhist in three installments in 1970 and 1971:

1. New Series vol 3 n 2, pp. 89–118
2. New Series vol 4 n 1, pp. 116–123
3. New Series vol 4 n 2, pp. 119–127

They are gathered here into a single PDF for your convenience.

Bhikkhu, if one teaches the Dhamma for the purpose of revulsion towards the eye, for its fading away and cessation, one can be called a bhikkhu who is a speaker on the Dhamma.

if occasionally, due to a lapse of mindfulness, evil unwholesome memories and intentions connected with the fetters arise in him, slow might be the arising of his mindfulness, but then he quickly abandons them, dispels them, puts an end to them

The Buddha urges mendicants to be free of desire for the six senses, giving a series of vivid similes.

the vows of a bhikṣu,
The root of the teachings,
guard them as you would your very own eyes.

Some life advice to an unnamed Tulku.

A monk disjoined from the fetter of delight is said to be a person who is living alone.

The Buddha defines “living alone” as living detached from relishing the six senses and their objects.

The essay asks what an enlightened moral sensitivity might require, and concludes in challenging the Zen tradition to consider reengaging the Mahayana Buddhist practices of reflection out of which Zen originated in order to assess the possible role of morality in its thought and practice

This essay responds to Brian Victoria’s critique of Zen social ethics by attempting to answer his question about Japanese Zen masters before and during the Second World War: how could they seemingly act without moral conviction in confronting the crisis of their time? How could Zen manifest itself in anything less than morally admirable actions? By assessing the role of morality in Zen tradition, the paper considers how the Zen tradition might extend itself in response to the moral impasse that these questions bring to light.

It’s a mendicant who, when they see a sight with their eyes, is neither happy nor sad. They remain equanimous, mindful and aware.

A discussion and Pāli edition of this text’s (16th century? Cambodian?) commentary by Venerable Ñāṇamaṅgala can be found on Academia.edu, here.

There are ten warm-hearted qualities that make for fondness and respect, conducing to inclusion, harmony, and unity, without quarreling. What ten?

Mendicants, a mendicant practicing mindfulness of breathing who has five things will soon penetrate the unshakable.

Bhikkhus, live under a protector, not without a protector. One without a protector lives in suffering. There are these ten qualities that serve as a protector.

Mendicants, a mendicant with five qualities who visits families is unlikable and unlovable, not respected or admired.

Being censured in this way by the Teacher, by wise companions in the holy life, by gods, and by himself, he realises no superhuman state, no distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. Why is that? That is how it is with one who does not fulfil the training in the Teacher’s Dispensation.

Venerable Bhaddāli refuses to follow the rule forbidding eating after noon, but is eventually filled with remorse and confesses to the Buddha who stresses the importance of following the monastic rules before forgiving him.

A wise person would not be too sure of themselves,
Until they have attained the end…

A mendicant might wish: ‘May I be liked and approved by my spiritual companions, respected and admired.’ So let them fulfill their precepts, be committed to inner serenity of the heart, not neglect absorption, be endowed with discernment, and frequent empty huts.

If a mendicant wishes to attain spiritual heights, they should begin by practicing the monastic rules.

Devadatta,
–regarded as wise, composed,
incandescent with honor–
in the thrall of heedlessness
assaulted the Tathāgata…

Conquered by three forms of false Dhamma, Devadatta was incurably doomed to hell.

‘Your outer robe of patches is soft, Kassapa.’–‘Venerable sir, let the Blessed One accept my outer robe of patches, out of compassion.’–‘Then will you wear my worn-out hempen rag-robes? ’–‘I will, venerable sir.’ Thus I offered the Blessed One my outer robe of patches and received from him his worn-out hempen rag-robes.

When several of Ānanda’s students disrobe, Kassapa admonishes him, calling him “boy”. The nun Thullanandā hears of this and criticizes Kassapa, claiming he formerly followed another teacher. But Kassapa refutes this, and gives an account of his going forth and encounter with the Buddha.

However, if you simply practice with the mind, neglecting body and speech, that won’t work either. They are inseparable.

Though many creatures crawl about,
Many terrors, flies, serpents,
The great sage gone to his empty hut
Stirs not a hair because of them.

Māra manifests as a huge serpent, but the Buddha remains unshaken.

Leave behind the analogies of foolish minds and modes of speech,
And look instead into the mind for which there can be no analogy.

In this poetical advice, Mipham Rinpoche calls on his listeners to forget conceptions of reality, no matter how grand, and to look directly at the mind in order to gain wisdom.

He walked back & forth on top of a giant mountain of excrement …

Before his awakening, the bodhisatta had five great dreams that foretold profound aspects of his dispensation.

Bhikkhus, this is the lowest form of livelihood, that is, gathering alms. In the world this is a term of abuse: ‘You alms-gatherer; you roam about with a begging bowl in your hand!’ And yet, bhikkhus, clansmen intent on the good take up that way of life for a valid reason.

The Buddha reminds a group of wayward monks why they went forth.

But then, a mendicant grounded on these five things should develop four further things. They should develop the perception of ugliness to give up greed, love to give up hate, mindfulness of breathing to cut off thinking, and perception of impermanence to uproot the conceit ‘I am’.

Venerable Meghiya, while attending on the Buddha, wants to go off and meditate in a forest alone. The Buddha discourages him, but he goes anyway. When his meditation doesn’t go well, he returns chastened to the Buddha, who teaches him the importance of getting the fundamentals right.

Surely, venerable sir, we are living in concord, with mutual appreciation, without disputing, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with kindly eyes.

The Buddha comes across three mendicants practicing diligently and harmoniously, and asks them how they do it. They explain how they skillfully deal with the practical affairs of living together. Only when pressed by the Buddha do they reveal their attainments.

With craving his companion, a man
wanders on a long, long time.

What can cause a monk to be reborn?

Mendicants, a resident mendicant with five qualities shows compassion to the lay people. What five?

King Pasenadi entered the dwelling. He prostrated himself at the Blessed One’s feet, and then he covered the Blessed One’s feet with kisses, caressing them with his hands and pronouncing his name…

King Pasenadi, near the end of his life, visits the Buddha, and pronounces the reasons for his devotion.

What kind of person does not torment himself, not being interested in self-torture, and does not torment others, not being interested in torturing others?

Contrasting the openness of animals with the duplicity of humans, The Buddha explains how to lead the religious life in a way that is truly admirable.

… he cuts its inner bark and takes it away, thinking it is heartwood; and so whatever it was he had to make with heartwood, his purpose will not be served.

After the incident with Devadatta, the Buddha cautions the mendicants against becoming complacent and points to liberation as the true heart of the teachings.

And they live having realized it with their own insight due to the ending of defilements. But they don’t have direct meditative experience of the eight liberations. That’s how a person is a white lotus ascetic.

The confirmed ascetic, the white lotus ascetic, the pink lotus ascetic, and the refined ascetic of ascetics.

‘I must now behave in a different manner.’ This must be reflected upon again and again by one who has gone forth.

… those who have not long gone forth, who are newcomers in this Dhamma & Vinaya should be encouraged, exhorted, and established in these five things.

A newly ordained monk who entered the Buddha’s path out of faith, abandoning the home life, should live in the midst of monks. He should learn the code of conduct well.

Mendicants, any mendicant who abuses and insults their spiritual companions, speaking ill of the noble ones, will, without a doubt, fall into one or other of these eleven disasters.

Bhikkhus, possessing three factors, a shopkeeper soon attains vast and abundant wealth…

And how does a bhikkhu have benefactors?

Shopkeepers and mendicants both have to be clever, responsible, and well supported.

In the same way, a mendicant with eleven qualities can meditate observing impermanence in the eye … meditate observing letting go.

The formulaic expansion of AN 11.17 into 960 suttas.

Mendicants, a cowherd with eleven factors can’t maintain and expand a herd of cattle. What eleven?

For this sutta’s lengthy repetition series, see AN 11.22–981.

The Ganges river slants, slopes, and inclines to the east. It’s not easy to make it slant, slope, and incline to the west.

Even if kings beg them to disrobe, a mendicant who has developed the four kinds of mindfulness meditation is unmoved. Their mind flows to Nibbāna.

When there are no bhikkhus who are exhorters: this is a case of decline.

The Buddha invites Kassapa to teach the mendicants, but he is reluctant, saying that the monks have become stubborn and their good qualities are in decline.

If, bhikkhus, that log does not veer towards the near shore, does not veer towards the far shore, does not sink in mid-stream, does not get cast up on high ground, does not get caught by human beings, does not get caught by nonhuman beings, does not get caught in a whirlpool, and does not become inwardly rotten, it will slant, slope, and incline towards the ocean.

A cowherd named Nanda overhears a teaching by the Buddha.

Mendicants, three kinds of people are bound for a place of loss, bound for hell…

Any bhikkhu who is skillful in this, diligent, clearly comprehending and ever mindful, is said to be standing in an ancient, primal noble lineage.

Contentment with any old robe, alms-food, lodgings, and love of meditation: these are ancient traditions of the noble ones.

When your harp’s strings were tuned too tight, was it resonant and playable?

When Venerable Soṇa thinks of disrobing, the Buddha comes and encourages him with the famous simile of the lute that is tuned neither too loose nor too tight.

Like they’re struck by a sword…

Whether or not other bhikkhus train, I will train.

With eight qualities a royal thoroughbred is worthy of a king.

Monks, after consideration, that monk is to leave that wilderness grove; he is not to live there.

The factors a Buddhist should consider when deciding where to stay.

They get a good reputation and grow in fame,
those who develop the direct route

A nun with five qualities is cast down to hell…

Five good and five bad qualities that determine a nun’s destiny after death.

Bhikkhus, two thoughts often occur to the Tathāgata…

… these five things lead to the decline and disappearance of the true teaching

It’s inappropriate to talk to an unfaithful person about faith…

Mendicants, I’m not even comfortable thinking about a place where mendicants argue…

When mendicants fight, the Buddha doesn’t like it.

A mendicant with seven qualities is liked and approved by their spiritual companions

Blissful is concord in the Saṅgha.

Concord in the Sangha leads to the welfare and happiness of many beings, both human and divine.

Now he lay among the Sal trees, about to enter Nirvana. The time was the middle of the night, calm and noiseless. For the sake of all the disciples, he briefly spoke of the most important doctrines…

An English translation of a popular Zen liturgical sutra.

You, a person:
subdue your desire for people.

A monk in the forest lets his mind drift to thoughts of the lay life, and is exhorted by a local deity.

… a mendicant who wants to accuse another should first check five things in themselves and establish five things in themselves

… a gentleman who goes forth from the lay life to homelessness in this teaching and training should anticipate four dangers

The risks of (metaphorical) waves, crocodiles, whirlpools, and sharks.

Knowledge of Silence I’ll convey,
hard to do, to master difficult,
so be both firm and resolute
and I’ll speak upon this thing.

Understand this by the way streams move
in clefts and crevices:
the little creeks flow on babbling,
while silent flow the great rivers.

What is unfilled makes noise
but silent is what’s full,
the fool is like the pot half-filled,
the wise one is like a lake

A sutta in two parts. The first part gives an account of events soon after the birth of the Bodhisatta. The second part describes the way of the sage.

Mendicants, don’t engage in all kinds of low talk, such as…

… a monk who wishes to criticize another should first establish five resolutions

Although I did not have anything with which to practice generosity, I encouraged others.

A deva explains how worshiping the relics of a Buddha can bring much happiness.

Visiting a family with nine factors is worthwhile

Nine factors in how a family should relate to the Saṅgha.

… these six are conditions that are conducive to amiability, that engender feelings of endearment and respect

Six warm-hearted qualities practiced among the mendicants.

Mendicants, it is not appropriate for you who have gone forth to talk about such things.

When monks have gathered, they shouldn’t spend their time gossiping.

Intuition is the key to establishing any organization

… advice to Saṅgha members teaching to Americans; to Buddhist lay teachers and practicioners, both present and future, who are interested in engaging in [missionary] activities.

A collection of essays from a monk who’s been teaching in California for 42 years.

Oh, when will I stay in a mountain cave,
alone, with no companion,
discerning all states of existence as impermanent?

Oh, when will I rise up,
intent on attaining freedom from death,
hearing, in the mountain cave, the cry of the crested peacock in the forest?

In the future
many dangers will arise in the world.
Idiots will defile
the Dhamma that was taught so well.

A prophetic poem about the decline of the sāsana.

Some people almost faint trying to climb up the mountain where I live.

A prose translation of Arahant Mahā Kassapa’s verses in praise of his auster home, Gurpa Hill.

… a mendicant with four qualities is worthy of offerings

A mendicant like a king’s elephant.

… having fulfilled our duty, free of remorse and regret, we were reborn in a superior realm

Some deities come to the Buddha and speak of their practice in their past life and, in so doing, explain the conduct expected of lay people towards monastics.

I cannot make that person emerge from the unwholesome and establish him in the wholesome.’ one should not underrate equanimity towards such a person.

The Buddha outlines when and how monks should reprove one another.

Although this is a matter of preparing and serving meals, the tenzo is not just “the cook.”

A beautiful and classic (13th century) essay on the Zen of running the monastery kitchen.

An alternate translation by Griffith Foulk can be found on The Zen Site.

… no ordinary being can truly take the measure of another…

When we say you have to endure, you really have to endure. Don’t be willing to surrender. Craving is going to keep coming up and whispering but don’t you listen to it! You have to listen to the Buddha—the Buddha who tells you to let go of craving.

A collection of teachings from one of 20th-century Thailand’s preeminent nuns.

… observance of the monastic rules was not intended to be only a matter of acceptance of institutional rules and lifestyles. […] educated monks understood a causal connection between the exercise of ethical behavior in a monastic lifestyle and progress on the path

Mahayana (and Tantric) Buddhism is often portrayed as antinomian or even “lay oriented” but, while certainly a strand, did not constitute the mainstream understanding, even in late India.

When we adopt a Buddhist perspective on the wounds that afflict our world today, we soon realize that these wounds are symptomatic: a warning signal that something is fundamentally awry with the way we lead our lives.

You can also listen to this book on Pariyatti’s website.

When feelings of discouragement come up and we are tired and disheartened we might want to give up our efforts, but once we have given up, there is no chance any more to reap the benefits of the practice. So at least keep trying, everyone. Whether we have already attained peaceful states or not doesn’t matter. Just keep on meditating, sitting or walking. Peaceful or not.

I’m giving advice as a remedy.
This will help you long, so listen!

Human born.
Faculties intact.
Full of youth.
To encounter the Dharma is marvelous!

A short outline of the ideal monastic career.

People are so difficult to be with —
The good ones won’t lead the way, and the bad ones never stop.

One does not obtain sīla, let alone the Dhamma, from the historical process.

Don’t try to be someone else

… a trapper doesn’t cast bait for deer thinking, ‘May the deer, enjoying this bait, be healthy and in good condition. May they live long and prosper!’ 🖖

A lovely illustration of the importance of samatha jhana for living the holy life sustainably, and a memorable simile on the ways that Mara can trap a mendicant.

… the time for discovering Buddha directly, you must remain alone

A short poem on overcoming our barriers and sticking to the practice.

Here I have set down for those who wish to follow the bodhisattva path,
Thirty-seven practices to be adopted by all the buddhas’ heirs

A list of practices which all renunciants would do well to reflect upon again and again.

It’s interesting to walk through the graveyards of towns, and see that for the first few years after a person dies there may be a head stone, maybe someone remembers, but after twenty, thirty, or forty years, they could bulldoze the graves because the land is so valuable and plant somebody else in there. So even your head stone just crumbles to dust. All record of you living here is gone, because no one remembers who you were or what you did. Isn’t that beautiful? So why not do that right now? Bulldoze this idea of who you are

Until one has a taste of samādhi, one doesn’t know the value of the Dhamma and the teaching. Until a bhikkhu experiences samādhi, he fails to see the value of the Buddha’s teaching. He may read about it in books, but paper and ink are not very tasty food!

A transcript of this talk can be found in Teachings for the Monks.

… five people similar to warriors are found among the monks

Some warriors, like some monks, falter before the threat of battle, while others emerge victorious.

What is the cause, what is the reason why, of the two persons without a blemish, one is said to be worse and one better?

On the importance of mindfulness in our cultivation of virtue.

“Be my heirs in the teaching, not in material things.”

Venerable Sāriputta explains how by following the Buddha’s example we can experience the spiritual fruits of his path.

… a monk who is endowed with these fifteen factors including exertion, it is possible for [him to attain] breakthrough, it is possible for [him to attain] awakening, it is possible for [him to attain] arrival at unsurpassable security from bondage.

The Buddha explains various ways one can become cut off.

Furthermore, a mendicant is attached to their own views, holding them tight, and refusing to let go. This too is a quality that makes them difficult to admonish.

Venerable Mahā Moggallāna lists 16 qualities that make someone difficult or easy to admonish.

Then, not receiving his parents’ permission to go forth, the clansman Raṭṭhapāla lay down there on the bare floor, saying: “Right here I shall either die or receive the going forth.”

This long sutta tells the story of Raṭṭhapāla’s going forth: a model of monastic behavior for Theravādins even today.

An alternate translation can be found here.

The Buddha said to them: “Mendicants, what’s with that dreadful racket? You’d think it was fishermen hauling in a catch!”

The Buddha describes the four dangers one can expect after going forth.

… let them fulfill their precepts, be committed to inner serenity of the heart, not neglect absorption, be endowed with discernment, and frequent empty huts.

Careful observance of ethical precepts is the foundation of all higher achievements in the spiritual life.

… this is the nature of a person accomplished in view. Though they might manage a diverse spectrum of duties for their spiritual companions, they still feel a keen regard for the training in higher ethics, higher mind, and higher wisdom.

The Buddha taught the reluctant, quarrelling monks of Kosambi to develop themselves in love and harmony, reminding them of the higher aspirations for which they ordained.

‘What the hell, Kāḷī!’

Mendicants, there are these five ways in which others might criticize you. Their speech may be timely or untimely, true or false, gentle or harsh, beneficial or harmful, from a heart of love or from secret hate. When others criticize you, they may do so in any of these ways. If that happens, you should train like this: ‘Our minds will remain unaffected.’

Even if low-down bandits were to sever you limb from limb, anyone who had a malevolent thought on that account would not be following my instructions.

If you frequently reflect on this advice–the simile of the saw–do you see any criticism, large or small, that you could not endure?”

A discourse full of vibrant and memorable images on the importance of patience and love even when faced with abuse and criticism.

But one day your body’s gonna say, “No, I can no longer do it.” Your body becomes old, sick or incapacitated. You cannot do anything. Then, people may think about killing themselves, right? But if you have peace from meditation, then you don’t need the body. Whatever happens to the body doesn’t bother you. You can still have peace and happiness directly. You don’t need a medium like the body and the things that the body consumes to make it happy. All you need is mindfulness to calm your mind, to stop your mind.

But it’s not easy. Mindfulness doesn’t come easily but it’s not impossible. You just have to concentrate on your effort to be mindful

A bhikkhu who in such a manner is ardent and afraid of wrongdoing is called constantly energetic and resolute.

A short sutta stressing the foundation of ethics on which insight meditation must rest.

Upāli, it’s not easy to endure isolated wilderness & forest lodgings. It’s not easy to maintain seclusion, not easy to enjoy being alone. The forests, as it were, plunder the mind of a monk who has not gained concentration.

When Upāli asks to go into retreat, the Buddha warns him that secluded wilderness dwellings are hard to endure unless one is accomplished in meditation. He gives a long account of the training required before going into solitude, and ends by encouraging Upāli to stay in the Saṅgha.

Let them enjoy the filthy, lazy pleasure of possessions, honor, and popularity.

In this Sutta, The Buddha emphasizes the importance of wilderness and seclusion for a meditator.

How does a person both make a hole and live in it?

Four people similar to mice.

We have to practice step by step to attain succeeding levels of happiness, starting with the happiness that arises from giving, to the happiness from keeping the precepts, not hurting others, to the happiness from samadhi or mental discipline.

A simple and straightforward but powerful summary of the path to wisdom encouraging us all to strive for real, lasting happiness.