“A true Zen saying: "Nothing is what I want.”

— Frank Zappa

Last update Sept. 27, 2023. History

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Frank Zappa 129

American musician, songwriter, composer, and record and fil… 1940–1993

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“If you want to travel the Way of Buddhas and Zen masters, then expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing.”

Dogen (1200–1253) Japanese Zen buddhist teacher

“I want to make one thing absolutely clear. I am not a Zen Buddhist, I am not advocating Zen Buddhism, I am not trying to convert anyone to it. I have nothing to sell. I'm an entertainer.”

Alan Watts (1915–1973) British philosopher, writer and speaker

Alan Watts, on Zen (2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh-3FJs2pz8
Context: I want to make one thing absolutely clear. I am not a Zen Buddhist, I am not advocating Zen Buddhism, I am not trying to convert anyone to it. I have nothing to sell. I'm an entertainer. That is to say, in the same sense, that when you go to a concert and you listen to someone play Mozart, he has nothing to sell except the sound of the music. He doesn’t want to convert you to anything. He doesn’t want you to join an organization in favor of Mozart's music as opposed to, say, Beethoven's. And I approach you in the same spirit as a musician with his piano or a violinist with his violin. I just want you to enjoy a point of view that I enjoy.

“What is true zazen? What do you mean by Zen becomes Zen and you become you? You become you is a very important point. You become you.”

Shunryu Suzuki (1904–1971) Japanese Buddhist missionary

Lecture in Los Altos, CA (1 September 1967) http://www.shunryusuzuki.com/suzuki/transcripts-pdf/67-pdf/67-08-31U.pdf
Context: What is true zazen? What do you mean by Zen becomes Zen and you become you? You become you is a very important point. You become you. When you become you, even though you are in bed, you may not be you most of the time. Even though you are sitting here, I wonder whether you are you in its true sense. So to be you is zazen.