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

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

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

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

The true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.

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 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.

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

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

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

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.

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

The world is its own magic.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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

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

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

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

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

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 mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities.

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

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

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

The menu is not the meal.

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

The obstacle is the path.

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

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