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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

The farther you enter into truth, the deeper it is.

The menu is not the meal.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 eye with which I see Buddha is the same eye with which Buddha sees me.

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

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

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.

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