The eye with which I see Buddha is the same eye with which Buddha sees me.

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.

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

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

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

To live is enough.

Zazen is not step-by-step meditation. Rather it is simply the easy and pleasant practice of a Buddha, the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom.

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

Emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite possibilities.

The menu is not the meal.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

The mind of the past is ungraspable; the mind of the future is ungraspable; the mind of the present is ungraspable.

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.

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The world is its own magic.

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

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

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

The obstacle is the path.

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

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

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