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

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

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

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

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.

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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.

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

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

The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your two feet.

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

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

Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice.

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

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

To live is enough.

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