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

The obstacle is the path.

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.

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

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

To what shall I compare this life? It is like a boat that left at dawn, leaving no trace.

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

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

The menu is not the meal.

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

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 that not enough? To love – is that not 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.

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

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

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

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

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

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

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

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

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

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

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

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 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.