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

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

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 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.

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?

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

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

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

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.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.

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.

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

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

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

To live is enough.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

The menu is not the meal.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.