Thus Should One Regard One’s Self

Ikkyu said, “Like a vanishing dew, a passing apparition or sudden flash of lightning – already gone- thus should one regard one’s self.” He was echoing the Diamond Sutra, which is a foundational Zen text. In the Diamond Sutra the Buddha says, “All composed things are like a dream, a phantom, a drop of dew, a flash of lightning. That is how to meditate on them, this is how to observe them.” Ikkyu was taking that concept from the Diamond... Read more