The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand; I take a book from the other side of the desk; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring wood: all these I do in Zen.

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

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

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 world is its own magic.

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

The obstacle is the path.

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.

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

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

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

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

Technical knowledge is not enough. One must transcend techniques so that the art becomes an artless art, growing out of the unconscious.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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.

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

Where there is great doubt, there is great awakening; small doubt, small awakening; no doubt, no awakening.

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

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

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

When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet it.

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

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.

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

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

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

In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

When both body and mind are at peace, all things appear as they are: perfect, complete, lacking nothing.

Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature.

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

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

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

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

Should you desire the great tranquility, prepare to sweat white beads.

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

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

The instant you speak about a thing, you miss the mark.

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.

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

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

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.

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