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

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.

When dharma fills your body and mind, you realize that something is missing.

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.

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.

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

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

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

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

At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening. If you doubt fully, you will awaken fully.

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

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.

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

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

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.

Everybody has the light of Buddha within, but they don't look for it.

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

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

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.

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.

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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

To what shall I compare this life? It is like a boat that left at dawn, leaving no trace.

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

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

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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.

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

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

The instant you speak about a thing, you miss the mark.

Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature.

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

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 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.

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.

Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.

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

The obstacle is the path.

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.

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.

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

The ocean does not reject any water; therefore it is great. The mountain does not select its stones; therefore it is great.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.

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

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

To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things.

To live is enough.

When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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 way is basically perfect. It is not a matter of practice or enlightenment.