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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

The world is its own magic.

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

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

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

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.

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.

Just to be alive is enough.