The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

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

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

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love 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 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 ocean does not reject any water; therefore it is great. The mountain does not select its stones; therefore it is great.

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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.

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

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.

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

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

The real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

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

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

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

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

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

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.