Even if you speak of 'understanding,' this understanding is not a matter of knowledge. It is what fills the entire body and mind.

There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen. Even though you read much Zen literature, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind.

This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

In the spring, hundreds of flowers; in autumn, a harvest moon; in the summer, a refreshing breeze; in winter, snow will accompany you. If useless things do not hang in your mind, any season is a good season for you.

When both body and mind are at peace, all things appear as they are: perfect, complete, lacking nothing.

The role of Zen is neither to stand above life nor to run away from it, but to face it with a spirit of determination.

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

When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions.

The world is its own magic.

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense.

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

Technical knowledge is not enough. One must transcend techniques so that the art becomes an artless art, growing out of the unconscious.

Your own treasure house contains everything you need; why search outside?

Zen is a way of life, not a theory or a piece of knowledge to be stored away in our minds.

When walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

When you are you, Zen is Zen. Big mind is just big mind.

The practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

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

Emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite possibilities.

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.

Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.

Not knowing how near the truth is, we seek it far away.

To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

Each of you is perfect the way you are... and you can use a little improvement.

The obstacle is the path.

Birth and death are neither two things nor one thing. Life is not an appearance, death is not a disappearance.

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

The archer ceases to be conscious of himself as the one who is engaged in hitting the bull's-eye which confronts him. This state of unconsciousness is realized only when, completely empty and rid of the self, he becomes one with the perfecting of his technical skill.

Personal experience is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha.

When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet it.

What Zen wants us to do is to acquire an entirely new point of view whereby to look into the mysteries of life and the secrets of nature.

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

The treasure house within you contains everything, and you are free to use it. You don't need to seek outside.

The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.

The eye with which I see Buddha is the same eye with which Buddha sees me.

Our practice cannot be perfect, but without being discouraged by this, we should continue it. This is the secret of practice.

Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice.

The time of the past becomes the present, the time of the present becomes the future, the time of the future becomes the present, and the time of the present becomes the past.

In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light.

In the spiritual world there are no time divisions such as the past, present and future; for they have contracted themselves into a single moment of the present where life quivers in its true sense.

Where is the place that your original face has not yet emerged?

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

The real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken! Take heed, do not squander your life.

The real purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.

The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities.

Leave your front door and your back door open. Allow your thoughts to come and go. Just don't serve them tea.

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?

The state of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is, itself, enlightenment.

When you practice zazen you should not try to attain anything. You should just sit in the complete calmness of your mind and not rely on anything.

Wherever you are, you are one with the clouds and one with the sun and the stars you see. You are one with everything. That is more true than I can say, and more true than you can hear.

Buddhas and ordinary beings are not two. Enlightenment and delusion are not different paths.