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

The role of Zen is neither to stand above life nor to run away from it, but to face it with a spirit of determination.

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

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

The obstacle is the path.

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

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.

Leave your front door and your back door open. Allow your thoughts to come and go. Just don't serve them tea.

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

To live is enough.

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

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

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

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