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

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.

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.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Each of you is perfect the way you are... and you can use a little improvement.

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

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.

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

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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

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 mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

The world is its own magic.

The menu is not the meal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Personal experience is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.