Non-Attachment Quotes

I discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color--something which exists before all forms and colors appear... No matter what god or doctrine you believe in, if you become attached to it, your belief will be based more or less on a self-centered idea.

Water is the softest of all things, yet it is the most powerful. The ocean patiently allows all things to flow into it. It is always flexible. The Tao is not about grasping, but allowing, like water.

Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water.

Control the things you can control. As for the rest - God bless it all.

Whoever wants to be free, therefore, let him not want or avoid anything that is up to others. Otherwise he will necessarily be a slave.

Whatever happens around you, don't take it personally... Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.

Let us not worry about the future. Let us only do the right thing Today, At this moment, Here and now. Let the future take care of itself.

Sometimes your advice prevails; sometimes it doesn’t prevail. It’s not a matter of winning or losing.

I don't mind what happens.

What you cannot control, you must accept.

Free from passion and desire, you have stripped the thorns from the stem.

Know not to revere human things too much.

You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of the work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction.

Can you let go of words and ideas, attitudes and expectations? If so, then the Tao will loom into view.

What other people think of me is their problem - not mine.

To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of realization remains, and this no trace continues endlessly.

Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance; and be ready to let it go.

Never have anything to do with likes and dislikes. The absence of what one likes is painful, as is the presence of what one dislikes. Therefore don't take a liking to anything. To lose what one likes is hard, but there are no bonds for those who have no likes and dislikes. From preference arises sorrow, from preference arises fear, but he who is freed from preference has no sorrow and certainly no fear.

Don't Take Anything Personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

You've been somebody long enough. You spent the first half of your life becoming somebody. Now you can work on becoming nobody, which is really somebody. For when you become nobody there is no tension, no pretense, no one trying to be anyone or anything. The natural state of the mind shines through unobstructed - and the natural state of the mind is pure love.

Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is. Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose

Learn it all, then forget it all.

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

I would much rather be asked, why I do not have one, than why I do have one.