Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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.

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

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.

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

The obstacle is the path.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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.

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.

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.

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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 awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

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

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the dharma gate of joyful ease.

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.

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

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

Time passes unhindered. When we make ourselves better, we make the world better.

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.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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 menu is not the meal.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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