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

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

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

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.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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.

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.

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

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

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

Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken! Take heed, do not squander your life.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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?

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

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

When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet it.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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