
Our way is not to sit to acquire something; it is to express our true nature. That is our practice.

In our practice we have no particular purpose or goal, nor any special object of worship.

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

Tai Shimano visited Shunryu Suzuki. "How are you feeling these days?" Suzuki replied, "They have a new name for me: Cancer!"

To live in the realm of Buddha nature means to die as a small being, moment after moment.

Time goes from present to past.

The best way to control cow and sheep is to give them a big grazing field.

There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen.

Those who can sit perfectly physically usually take more time to obtain the true way of Zen, the actual feeling of Zen, the marrow of Zen.

To live is enough.

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

To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him.

The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the experts, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all possibilities.

How much 'ego' do you need? Just enough so that you don't step in front of a bus.

Strictly speaking, there are no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity.

If you think your body and mind are two, that is wrong; if you think that they are one, that is also wrong. Our body and mind are both two and one.

Wherever you go you will find your teacher, as long as you have the eyes to see and the ears to hear.

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

People who know the state of emptiness will always be able to dissolve their problems by constancy.

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

As soon as you see something, you already start to intellectualize it. As soon as you intellectualize something, it is no longer what you saw.

Our way to practice is one step at a time, on breath at a time.

Instead of respecting things, we want to use them for ourselves and if it is difficult to use them, we want to conquer them.

As long as we have some definite idea about or some hope in the future, we cannot really be serious with the moment that exists right now.

Hell is not punishment, it's training.

Even though it is midnight, dawn is here; even though dawn comes, it is nighttime.

A student, filled with emotion and crying, implored, "Why is there so much suffering?"
Suzuki Roshi replied, "No reason.

When we realize the everlasting truth of "everything changes" and find our composure in it, we find ourselves in Nirvana.

If it is raining out, do not walk fast, because it is raining everywhere.

If you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a thick wall.

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

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.

It must be obvious ... that there is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity.

TRANSIENCY We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

It is necessary to remember what we have done, but we should not become attached to what we have done in some special sense.

You will always exist in the universe in one form or another.

Concentration comes not from trying hard to focus on something, but from keeping your mind open and directing it at nothing.

To stop your mind does not mean to stop the activities of mind. It means your mind pervades your whole body.

When we become truly ourselves, we just become a swinging door, and we are purely independent of, and at the same time, dependent upon everything.

Everything you do is right, nothing you do is wrong, yet you must still make ceaseless effort.

There will always be war, but we must always work to oppose it.

To take this posture itself is the purpose of our practice.

In your very imperfections you will find the basis for your firm, way-seeking mind.

The more you practice zazen, the more you will be able to accept something as your own, whatever it is.

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

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.

We ourselves cannot put any magic spells on this world. The world is its own magic.

To renounce things is not to give them up. It is to acknowledge that all things go away.

A Master who cannot bow to a disciple cannot bow to Buddha.

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