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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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.

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.

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.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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.

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

The obstacle is the path.

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.

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

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

To live is enough.

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.

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.

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.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Just to be alive is enough.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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