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

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.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

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.

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.

Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just to be alive is enough.

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening. If you doubt fully, you will awaken fully.

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

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

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.

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

The menu is not the meal.

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

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

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

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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?

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

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.

The world is its own magic.

If you want to climb a mountain, begin at the top.

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.

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.

To live is enough.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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 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.

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