Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature.

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

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

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

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

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.

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 of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities.

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

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

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

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.

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

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

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

Just to be alive is enough.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

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

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

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