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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

The world is its own magic.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The obstacle is the path.

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.