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

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

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

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.

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

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

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

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

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

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

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

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

The obstacle is the path.

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

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.

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

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.

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

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 purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.

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.

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

The world is its own magic.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand; I take a book from the other side of the desk; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring wood: all these I do in Zen.

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.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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.

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