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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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.

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

To live is enough.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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.

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

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

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

Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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

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

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

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

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

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.

When you are you, Zen is Zen. Big mind is just big mind.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The world is its own magic.

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