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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded.

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

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

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

Life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink.

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

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

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

The menu is not the meal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The world is its own magic.

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

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

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

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

At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening. If you doubt fully, you will awaken fully.

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

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

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 obstacle is the path.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

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

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

In the spiritual world there are no time divisions such as the past, present and future; for they have contracted themselves into a single moment of the present where life quivers in its true sense.

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

The real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

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

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

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

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