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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

To live is enough.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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.

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

The menu is not the meal.

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

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

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

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

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

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.

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

Everybody has the light of Buddha within, but they don't look for it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.