Practice What You Preach...

I found the following Zen Koan this morning..on a Yahoo group called the Now2...where I am a member....mainly a lurker. 

"The priest Sung-yan said, 'Why does the enlightened man not stand on his feet and explain himself?' And he said, 'It is not with the tongue that you speak."

Which reminded me of a quote I have saved on my computer

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

And another quote by Emerson....thrown in as a bonus (found via google, of course)

When the eyes say one thing and the tongue another, a practiced man relies on the language of the first.

And another...also by Emerson...

Go put your creed into your deed.

And while we attribute the "Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary" to St. Francis of Assisi...he did not actually say it...but did say something very similar....

"Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds."

and to wrap up this rabbit trail post...St. Jerome said it very concisely:

 'Why do you not practice what you preach?'