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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

To live is enough.

The obstacle is the path.

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.

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

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 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.

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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.

All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha.

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

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.

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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.

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

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

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

The menu is not the meal.

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.

The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the dharma gate of joyful ease.

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.

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

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