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

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

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.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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.

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?

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

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

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

The obstacle is the path.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Zen is a way of life, not a theory or a piece of knowledge to be stored away in our minds.

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

Birth and death are neither two things nor one thing. Life is not an appearance, death is not a disappearance.

The time of the past becomes the present, the time of the present becomes the future, the time of the future becomes the present, and the time of the present becomes the past.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

Each of you is perfect the way you are... and you can use a little improvement.

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

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

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.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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