Everything is perfect, but there is a lot of room for improvement.

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

So it is not a matter of whether it is possible to attain Buddhahood, or if it is possible to make a tile a jewel. But just to work, just to live in this world with this understanding is the most important point, and that is our practice. That is true zazen.

The person who can freely acknowledge that life is full of difficulties can be free, because they are acknowledging the nature of life - that it can't be much else.

In Zazen, in the practice of meditation, we do not try to escape from the world. We face it directly. By facing it directly, we can become completely immersed in it.

Take care of things, and they will take care of you.

In order not to leave any traces, when you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do. You should not have any remains after you do something. But this does not mean to forget all about it.

We should not be just a fan of dragons; we should always be the dragon himself. Then we will not be afraid of any dragon.

We die, and we do not die.

For Zen students, a weed is a treasure. With this attitude, whatever you do, life becomes an art.

Each one of us must make his own true way, and when we do, that way will express the universal way.

When we do not expect anything we can be ourselves. That is our way, to live fully in each moment of time.

People say that practicing Zen is difficult, but there is a misunderstanding as to why. It is not difficult because it is hard to sit in the cross-legged position, or to attain enlightenment. It is difficult because it is hard to keep our mind pure and our practice pure in its fundamental sense.

We have to study with our warm heart, not just with our brain.

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

Let your ears hear without trying to hear. Let the mind think without trying to think and without trying to stop it. That is practice.

If enlightenment comes first, before thinking, before practice, your thinking and your practice will not be self-centered. By enlightenment I mean believing in nothing, believing in something which has no form or no color, which is ready to take form or color. This enlightenment is the immutable truth. It is on this original truth that our activity, our thinking, and our practice should be based.