Zazen practice is the direct expression of our true nature. Strictly speaking, for a human being, there is no other practice than this practice; there is no other way of life than this way of life.
There will always be war, but we must always work to oppose it.
If I tell you something, you will stick to it and limit your own capacity to find out for yourself.
No matter what god or doctrine you believe in, if you become attached to it, your belief will be based more or less on a self-centered idea.
Discipline is creating the situation.
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.
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.
Instead of respecting things, we want to use them for ourselves and if it is difficult to use them, we want to conquer them.
Even if the sun were to rise from the west, the Bodhisattva has only one way.
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.
In your everyday life you always have opportunities for enlightenment. If you go to the rest room, there is a chance to attain enlightenment. When you cook, there is a chance to attain enlightenment. When you clean the floor, there is a chance to attain enlightenment.
If you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a thick wall.
To stop your mind does not mean to stop the activities of mind. It means your mind pervades your whole body.
Ego is a social institution with no physical reality. The ego is simply your symbol of yourself.
If you continue this simple practice every day, you will obtain some wonderful power. Before you attain it, it is something wonderful, but after you attain it, it is nothing special.
Bowing is a very serious practice. You should be prepared to bow, even in your last moment. even though it is impossible to get rid of our self-centered desires, we have to do it. Our true nature wants us to.
To renounce things is not to give them up. It is to acknowledge that all things go away.
An enlightened person does not ignore things and does not stick to things, not even to the truth.
The beginner’s mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate, it is boundless.
We try, and we try, and we fail; and then we go deeper.
When you are just you, without thinking or trying to say something special, just saying what is on your mind and how you feel, then there is naturally self-respect.