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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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.

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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 walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble.

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.

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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

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

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

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

The world is its own magic.

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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

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

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.

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

When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions.

To live is enough.

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

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

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 menu is not the meal.

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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