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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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.

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

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

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