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

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.

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

The time of the past becomes the present, the time of the present becomes the future, the time of the future becomes the present, and the time of the present becomes the past.

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

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

To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.

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

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

The world is its own magic.

The menu is not the meal.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

Where there is great doubt, there is great awakening; small doubt, small awakening; no doubt, no awakening.

The obstacle is the path.

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.

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

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

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

To see nothing is to perceive the Way, and to understand nothing is to know the Dharma.

The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

The dharma wheel turns from the beginning. There is neither excess nor deficiency. The whole universe is moistened with nectar, and the truth is ready to harvest.

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

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

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

To live is enough.

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

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

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

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