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.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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

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

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

The obstacle is the path.

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

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

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

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.

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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.

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

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?

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

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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.

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you intuit dharma intimately.

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

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

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.

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

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