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.

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

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

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

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

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

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

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

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

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.

In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light.

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.

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

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.

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.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 menu is not the meal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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 obstacle is the path.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

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

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

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.