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.

Should you desire the great tranquility, prepare to sweat white beads.

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

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.

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

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.

The true 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 idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand; I take a book from the other side of the desk; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring wood: all these I do in Zen.

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

The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech.

Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.

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

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

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

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 superior person is like water, bringing benefit to all without competing.

When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point.

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

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

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

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

To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.

To live – is that not enough? To love – is that not everything?

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

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.

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?

What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.

The mind is like a well-forged sword - it adapts to all situations.

The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded.

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.

The more you suffer the deeper grows your character, and with the deepening of your character you read the more penetratingly into the secrets of life.

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

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

To be in harmony with the wholeness of things is not to have anxiety over imperfection.

The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your two feet.

The farther you enter into truth, the deeper it is.

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 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.

Intrinsically all living beings are Buddhas, just as ice and water are of the same substance.

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.

Where there is great doubt, there is great awakening; small doubt, small awakening; no doubt, no awakening.

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

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

To see nothing is to perceive the Way, and to understand nothing is to know the Dharma.

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

Zazen is not step-by-step meditation. Rather it is simply the easy and pleasant practice of a Buddha, the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom.

The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transiency, or change.

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

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

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.

Life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink.

The dharma wheel turns from the beginning. There is neither excess nor deficiency. The whole universe is moistened with nectar, and the truth is ready to harvest.

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

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

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

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

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.