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

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Where is the place that your original face has not yet emerged?

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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?

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.

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