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.

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

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

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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 real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

Just to be alive is enough.

The obstacle is the path.

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

The silence between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

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

To live is enough.

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

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

Time passes unhindered. When we make ourselves better, we make the world better.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The menu is not the meal.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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 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.

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

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

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?

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

The world is its own magic.

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

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

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

When dharma fills your body and mind, you realize that something is missing.