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

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

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

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

The mind is like a well-forged sword - it adapts to all situations.

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

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

To live is enough.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

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

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

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

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

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

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

The world is its own magic.

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The obstacle is the path.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.