THIRTEEN SQUARE

What is Thirteen Square? First, it is ancient wisdom from Taoist and Buddhist sources. The number thirteen squared equals 169 and so there are here 169 examples of such wisdom in 13 sets of 13. But what is it for? It is to provoke thought, to consider, to meditate on, to read in stillness. It is to use in whatever way helps and not hinders you. As the gathered wisdom of centuries of thought in these Eastern traditions it is here as guide, as warning, as support and as wisdom. You may concentrate on one saying at a time, read through the whole, pick sayings at random or use it in whatever way you see fit. As you read through the 169 sayings you are sure to be stimulated to thought if you let your mind be still.

Peace be with you.

1 An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.

2 What you do right now is what matters.

3 The only Zen you find at the top of a mountain is the Zen you bring with you.

4 The problem is that ego can convert anything to its own use, even spirituality.

5 Best be still; best be empty. In stillness and emptiness we find where to abide. Talking and moving we lose this place.

6 The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

7 In the pursuit of knowledge: every day something is added. In the pursuit of enlightenment: every day something is let go.

8 Whatever you do, you do to yourself.

9 Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

10 However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act upon them?

11 It is the child that sees the primordial secret of nature and it is the child of ourselves we return to.

12 Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.

13 The mind of non-mind, the thought of non-thought.

14 Ordinary mind is the way. If you seek it you cannot find it. The way is not a matter of knowing or not knowing.

15 To understand nothing takes time.

16 Hope and fear are phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don't see the self as self, what do we have to fear?

17 You may say, "I must do something this afternoon" but actually there is no "this afternoon". We do things one after the other. That is all.

18 Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.

19 Be mindful of intention. Intention is the seed that creates our future.

20 Do everything with a mind that let's go.

21 The mad mind does not halt. If it halts, that is enlightenment.

22 If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything.

23 When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

24 If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, this is the best time of your life.

25 Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself? The action of non-action.

26 A fool sees himself as another, but a wise one sees others as himself.

27 Step into the fire of self-discovery. This fire will not burn you, it will only burn what you are not.

28 By plucking the petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.

29 We shape the clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.

30 The wise one is one who knows what they do not know.

31 We may idolize freedom but when it comes to our habits we are completely enslaved.

32 All wrongdoing arises because of mind.

33 This is the time. This is the place. This is the vastness. Right here is paradise. Always. Always.

34 The world is won by those who let it go.

35 All conditioned things are impermanent. 

36 Ask a cloud "What is your date of birth? Before you were born, where were you?"

37 Where ignorance is your master there is no possibility of real peace.

38 Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake up and become aware. It does not teach, it points.

39 You are one with everything; that things are separate is an illusion.

40 What is malleable is always superior to that which is immovable. This is mastery through adaptation.

41 For all things difficult to acquire, the intelligent one works with perseverance.

42 The only thing we really have control over is our own experience.

43 Our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.

44 When you seek it, you cannot find it.

45 The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

46 The entire teaching of Buddhism can be summed up in this way: Nothing is worth holding on to.

47 When your inner commentary finally ends, your happiness can finally begin.

48 The one who knows how little they know is well. The one who knows how much they know is sick.

49 True peace cannot be achieved by force… it can only be attained by training the mind and learning to cultivate.

50 Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.

51 As long as you seek for something you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

52 What you possess, you lose.

53 A person stands in their own shadow and wonders why it is dark.

54 To give up yourself without regret is the greatest charity.

55 All that we are arises with our thoughts.

56 If you wonder what Buddhism has to offer you, the answer is nothing. If you wonder what life is about, the answer is the same.

57 The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away! I'm looking for truth," and so it goes away.

58 You have a treasure within you that is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer.

59 Flow with whatever happens and let your mind be free.

60 Our life is shaped by our mind. We become what we think.

61 Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.

62 It takes a wise person to learn from their mistakes, but an even wiser person to learn from others.

63 High understanding comes from not understanding at all.

64 Experience this moment to its fullest.

65 The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

66 Practice non-action. Work without doing. 

67 God or no god, infinite divinity or eternal emptiness; they are the same thing.

68 True happiness is based on peace.

69 Composure is the ruler of instability.

70 Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know.

71 Do not seek the truth, only cease to cherish your opinions.

72 In the confrontation between the stream and the rock the stream always wins; not through strength but perseverance.

73 Renunciation is not getting rid of the things of this world but accepting that they pass away.

74 Everything will come. Exactly as it does.

75 Meditation is a skillful letting go and the skill of letting go.

76 Be like water.

77 The no-mind thinks no-thoughts about no-things.

78 The soft and supple will prevail.

79 How you live today is how you live your life.

80 In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities but in the expert's mind there are few.

81 When you get to the top of the mountain, keep climbing.

82 Can you see time? No. Then you should stop looking for it.

83 There is no connection between I myself yesterday and I myself in this moment. Who I am tomorrow is not connected to who I am today.

84 Becoming awake involves seeing our confusion more clearly.

85 When you realise there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

86 Stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence.

87 The moment we desire to be something we are no longer free.

88 When you realise there is nothing lacking the whole world belongs to you.

89 The brush must paint by itself.

90 If right were really right it would differ so clearly from not right that there would be no argument. Is that how you experience right?

91 The sacred lies in the ordinary.

The yin yang symbol signifies unity in opposites. Difference and wholeness cannot be separated for each implicates the other.

92 Understand yourself and then you will understand everything.

93 The stories you tell yourself create a "you" that is not true.

94 Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind rest at peace.

95 If you are not happy here and now you never will be.

96 Die in your thoughts every morning and you will no longer fear death.

97 Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience.

98 Time is not a line but a series of now-points.

99 You need not do anything but be yourself.

100 There is only your perception of time.

101 Change how you see and see how you change.

102 The infinite is the finite of every instant.

103 The beginner sees many possibilities, the expert few. Be a beginner every day.

104 Loss is not as bad as wanting more.

105 On your way remain unknown.

106 Everything changes. There is nothing to stick to. That is the Buddha's most important teaching.

107 Relearn everything. Let every moment be a new beginning.

108 We must realise that nothing is as it seems, that what we think is not the same as what is.

109 All teachings are mere references. The true experience is living your own life.

110 In difference there is completeness. In completeness there is difference.

111 Know nothing.

112 No self is true self.

113 Be happy without reason.

114 If you realise that all things change there is nothing you will try to hold on to.

115 Life is like stepping into a boat that is about to sail out to sea and sink.

116 Your suffering is my suffering and your happiness is my happiness.

117 Abandon learning and you will be free from trouble and distress.

118 The torch of chaos and doubt, this is what the sage steers by.

119 To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.

120 Being free of desires it is tranquil. And the world will be at peace of its own accord.

121 If you understand, things are just as they are. If you do not understand, things are just as they are.

122 With eyes watching, one cannot see. With eyes closed, one can see clearly.

123 If you want to climb a mountain, begin at the top.

124 No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.

125 Be a master of the mind, not mastered by the mind.

126 Not creating delusions is enlightenment.

127 Don't be interested in high-flown statements; bite your apple and don't discuss it.

128 Let things flow forward naturally in whatever way they like.

129 The holiest beliefs and the highest thoughts offer you nothing.

130 The world doesn't happen to you; you happen to it.

131 Simplicity, patience, compassion: these are your greatest treasures.

132 Thoughts aren't really fixed realities, but simply movements of the mind that is thinking.

133 Sheer futility, sheer futility: everything is futile. Everything is as insubstantial as breath. You try to grasp it, you cannot.

134 Much wisdom, much grief; the more knowledge, the more sorrow.

135 There is no disaster greater than not being at peace.

136 Laughter is a madness and pleasure no use at all.

137 There is nothing to be gained under the sun.

138 All is futility and chasing after the wind.

139 Be peace. Live peace.

140 We have to allow ourselves to realise we are complete fools; otherwise we have nowhere to begin.

141 Humility is its own reward and appropriate to what we are.

142 People like what is not true and they don't like what is true.

143 Truth is many.

144 A compassionate mind is a diligent mind.

145 There is a season for everything and a time for all tasks.

146 Stop looking for a point.

147 A flower falls, even though we love it; a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

148 Every new moment matters most. Concentrate on now.

149 If my mind doesn't go out to disturb the noise, the noise won't disturb me.

150 We see thoughts for what they are: the passionate attachment to unreal and non-substantial things.

151 The identity fades, the energy remains.

152 Be compassionate to all living things insofar as you can.

153 To see beyond ego is riches indeed.

154 To every person is given a key to heaven. The same key may also take you to hell.

155 Live slowly. Be attentive.

156 To understand everything is to forgive everything.

157 Nurture an innate recognition of your interconnectedness to all things.

158 "Is" is a deception in a world where everything is always becoming.

159 Look without searching. See without knowing.

160 A wise person sees others as themselves.

161 The function of mind is response. The function of life is adaptation. Forests are adaptations of seeds and seeds of dust.

162 Be content to be simply yourself without competition or comparison. This is respect.

163 Just live your day. Do your tasks. And then sleep. Nothing more is required of you.

164 The path to enlightenment is underneath your feet. Stay on the path.

165 Being is still; expression, moving.

166 Whatever you're doing, you're doing it now.

167 When there is no desire all things are at peace.

168 Wherever there is absence of self there are no others, because in absence of self I am all others.

169 We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.