The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

The obstacle is the path.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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.

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.

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

The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.

The world is its own magic.

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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.

The Buddha and all sentient beings are nothing but expressions of the one mind. There is nothing else.

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.

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

The true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.

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

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

Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks.

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

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

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

The mind of the past is ungraspable; the mind of the future is ungraspable; the mind of the present is ungraspable.

Zen proposes its solution by directly appealing to facts of personal experience and not to book-knowledge.

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

Zen is not necessarily against words, but it is well aware of their limitations.

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

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

The most important things in our practice are our physical posture and our way of breathing.

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.

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

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