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

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

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

Wherever you are, you are one with the clouds and one with the sun and the stars you see. You are one with everything. That is more true than I can say, and more true than you can hear.

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

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 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.

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.

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

The world is its own magic.

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

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

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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