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

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

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

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 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.

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

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

Just to be alive is enough.

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

Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.

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.

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

The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech.

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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

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

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

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.

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