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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

The world is its own magic.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening. If you doubt fully, you will awaken fully.

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 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.

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

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

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?

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 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.

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

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

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.