If you try to observe the precepts, that is not true observation of precepts. When you observe the precepts without trying to observe the precepts, that is true observation of the precepts.

The highest truth is daiji, translated as dai jiki in Chinese scriptures. This is the subject of the question the emperor asked Bodhidharma: "What is the First Principle?" Bodhidharma said, "I don't know." "I don't know" is the First Principle.

If you were not born in this world, there would be no need to die. To be born in this world is to die, to disappear [laughing].

There are, strictly speaking, no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity.

Don't move. Just die over and over. Don't anticipate. Nothing can save you now because you have only this moment. Not even enlightenment will help you now because there are no other moments. With no future, be true to yourself and express yourself fully. Don't move.

Someone was sitting in front of a sunflower, watching the sunflower, a cup of sun, and so I tried it too. It was wonderful; I felt the whole universe in the sunflower. That was my experience. Sunflower meditation. A wonderful confidence appeared. You can see the whole universe in a flower.

Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.

The practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind. The innocence of the first inquiry—what am I?—is needed throughout Zen practice. 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. It is the kind of mind which can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything.

Preparing food is not just about yourself and others. It is about everything!

You want to eliminate your evil desires in order to reveal your Buddha nature, but where will you throw them away?

The secret of zen is just two words: not... always... so.

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

The seed has no idea of being some particular plant, but it has its own form and is in perfect harmony with the ground, with its surroundings ... and there is no trouble. This is what we mean by naturalness.

Life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact, we have no fear of death anymore, nor actual difficulty in our life.

Discipline is creating the situation.

You must be true to your own way until at last you actually come to the point where you see it is necessary to forget all about yourself.

You should rather be grateful for the weeds you have in your mind, because eventually they will enrich your practice.

If you want to read a letter from the Buddha's world, it is necessary to understand Buddha's world.

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

Our practice should be based on the ideal of selflessness. Selflessness is very difficult to understand. If you try to be selfless, that is already a selfish idea. Selflessness will be there when you do not try anything.

We do not exist for the sake of something else. We exist for the sake of ourselves.

The true practice to meditation is to sit as if you were drinking water when you are thirsty.

There is no formula for generating the authentic warmth of love...Everyone has love, but it can only come out when he is convinced of the impossibility and frustration of trying to love himself. This conviction will not come through condemnations, through hating oneself, through calling self-love bad names in the universe. It comes only in the awareness that one has no self to love.