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

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

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.

The world is its own magic.

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

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

What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.

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

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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

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

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.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Just to be alive is enough.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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.

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

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.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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

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

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

The silence between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

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

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

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

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?

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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