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.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet 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 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 treasure house within you contains everything, and you are free to use it. You don't need to seek outside.

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

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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

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 enough.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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