Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.

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

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

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

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.

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

Birth and death are neither two things nor one thing. Life is not an appearance, death is not a disappearance.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

The world is its own magic.

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

To live is enough.

When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you intuit dharma intimately.

The mind is like a well-forged sword - it adapts to all situations.

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

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

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

Emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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.

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

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

The obstacle is the path.

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.

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

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 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.

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