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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Just to be alive is enough.

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

If you want to climb a mountain, begin at the top.

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

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

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

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

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.

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Meditation in the midst of activity is a thousand times superior to meditation in stillness.

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

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.

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

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

The obstacle is the path.

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