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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

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.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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

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

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 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.

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.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.

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.

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

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

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.

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

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.

The menu is not the meal.

Leave your front door and your back door open. Allow your thoughts to come and go. Just don't serve them tea.

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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