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

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.

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

When both body and mind are at peace, all things appear as they are: perfect, complete, lacking nothing.

The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.

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

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.

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?

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

To live – is that not enough? To love – is that not everything?

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

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

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

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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

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

To live is enough.

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

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

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

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

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