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

The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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?

This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

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

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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.

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