Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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.

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

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.

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

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

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

The menu is not the meal.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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.

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

The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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