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

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

Buddhas and ordinary beings are not two. Enlightenment and delusion are not different paths.

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.

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

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.

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

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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

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

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

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

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

The menu is not the meal.

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

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.

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.

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

The obstacle is the path.

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

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

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?

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

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.

The role of Zen is neither to stand above life nor to run away from it, but to face it with a spirit of determination.

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

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

The world is its own magic.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.