Zen Story Quotes

“Student: What should I do when I see a bright light, master? Master: Don't block the light, walk the path it illuminates!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, that huge mountain standing in front of me always seems stronger than me no matter what I do! Master: The Mountain in front of you is physically strong, you are mentally strong, and therefore it is you, not the mountain, that is huge!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, I can understand that clean water is holy, but I can't understand that dirty water is holy! Master: Blind faith is not for those who want to understand, but it is for those who do not want to understand or who cannot understand!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, I am very afraid of storms, what would you advise me? Master: I advise you to be even more afraid of storms, because once your fear gets to the bottom, there is nowhere to go, courage starts to rise from the bottom!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“God in names & forms is still a projection of your own thought.. and thus, your own mind.

The mind can recall only what is known, the unknown appears in it's emptiness.”
― Meeta Ahluwalia

“Student: Master, I am thinking of crossing a very large desert without food and water, what do you say? Master: I say try to cross a small desert with water and food first!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Disciple: Master, tell me, was my coming to this temple a plan of fate? Master: We teach in this temple the absence of fate, the supremacy of reason. Now tell me, did fate bring you here?”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, how can I reach the end of an endless road? Master: How can I answer a question that has no answer?”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Disciple: Master, you told me to leave the temple, what mistake did I make? Master: No mistake! You've learned a lot here, your load has become heavy, it's time to unload it! What is full must be emptied!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Disciple: Master, I set my goal, I identified the roads that will take me there, and I carefully planned how to get there using those roads, I hope I can get there! Is there anything I am missing? Master: The most important thing is missing! You are not sure that you will reach there, your faith is missing!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, can I ask you a question? Master: You can't ask because I'm not here! Student: But if you're not here, who is this talking? Master: Of course I am talking, but not my mind, my mind is not here! Student: And where is your mind, master? Master: I don't know, go ask my mind!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Disciple: Master, I was told that in this temple you would teach me to think, and here I am! Master: You were told wrong! Here you will learn not to think, but to think correctly!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, I look behind me, I have no followers, I feel very sad! Master: You don't have to be a follower, as long as you leave a good trace, maybe someone will follow you a year or a thousand years later! The important thing is to leave a beautiful and eye-opening trace!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, you told me that when you look outside, sometimes you see outside, sometimes you see inside! I thought about this a lot but I didn't understand anything! Master: If you have problems in your mind when you look outside, you will see your own problems, your own inside, not outside! The outer world truly appears before you only when your inner world is at peace!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, who should I be angry with if the door is closed? The one who closes the door or the door itself, because if there was no door, there would be no one who closed it! Master: Neither be angry at the person who closes the door, nor at the door! Get angry at your mind that gets angry because the door is closed!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, waiting for the future is so boring! Can't we bring the future to the present? Master: Yes, there is a way to bring the future to the present, for example, if you take a knife and kill yourself, you can bring your future death to the present, that is, you bring your entire future to the present!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, you don't talk much! Master: Yes, because when you talk you cannot hear what the universe is telling you!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, I will join your temple, what will I be here? Master: Here we take the logs and make a beautiful wooden sculpture out of them! So you will transform into something else here! Student: But I'm not a log, am I? Master: In this temple, what matters is not how you see yourself, but how we see you!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, can a meteorite fall on our head while we are walking? Master: Yes, it can fall! Student: What precautions can we take against this? Master: Try to strengthen your head! Student: But I want a realistic measure that works! Master: Then let me tell you something realistic: There is no possibility of a meteorite falling on your head, because nothing can fall on something that does not exist!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: What should someone who follows his leader but is much smarter than that leader do, master? Master: Let me correct this mistake first, a person who is smarter than his leader but still follows his leader is definitely not smart! If you're following someone less smart than you, you're stupid!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: "Master, what is the key to enlightenment?"

Monk: "Do you hear the sound of one hand clapping?"

Student, puzzled, pondered in silence.

Monk: "In the silence between the question and the answer, enlightenment unfolds.”
― Monika Ajay Kaul

“Student: Master, why do volcanoes erupt? Master: Because no one takes a silent volcano seriously!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Master: Sit in a remote place where no one passes and wait for someone to pass! Student: What if no one passes, master? I will rot there! Master: If no one passes, you assume someone has passed and return to the temple! The developed mind is the mind that is flexible!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, I saw a man looking at the wall, but there was nothing on the wall, the man was definitely crazy! Master: Maybe you saw a wall looking at the man, and the man was a clever man trying to figure out why the wall was looking at him!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, the path I follow seems to never want me, it always gives me terrible difficulties! Master: The path you followed has detected a lack of willpower and determination in you! Just like when you are afraid of a dog, the dog attacks you, the road also attacks you! Completing the path depends on you, not on the path!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, what happens if we bring tomorrow to today and live tomorrow today? Master: If you bring tomorrow to today, there will be no tomorrow, and when tomorrow comes, you will disappear because you have nowhere to go!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Master: Yes, it will happen! Student: What will happen, master? Master: I don't know! Student: But you said it will happen, master! Master: Yes, it will happen, but I don't know what will happen, because something always happens!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Disciple: Master, what will this temple give me? Master: This temple will not give you anything! Disciple: But I came here to take something! Master: There is nothing for you to take here; everything is within you, we will help you to take something from within yourself, that's all! Disciple: What if there is nothing within me, Master? Master: Then you will get nothing!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, why did you put the candles in front of the window? So that they can watch the view outside? So that they can learn to stand against the blowing wind? So that they can warm the cold wind outside? Master: I put them there just so that you can ask questions like these and exercise your mind!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Student: Master, I asked you yesterday to show me a way out of the problem I mentioned! But you still haven't! Master: I showed you! I said don't doubt that you will find a way out, this is the way out!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan