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

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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.

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

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.

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

The world is its own magic.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

To live is enough.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zen proposes its solution by directly appealing to facts of personal experience and not to book-knowledge.

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

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

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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