I discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color–something which exists before all forms and colors appear…...

The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner’s mind.

When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions; you should just listen to him, just observe what his way is. We put very little emphasis on...

In Hinayana Buddhism, practice is classified in four ways. The best way is just to do it without having any joy in it, not even spiritual joy. This way is just to do it, forgetting...

You see something or hear a sound, and there you have everything just as it is.[…]Whatever you do, it should be an expression of the same deep activity. We should appreciate what we are doing....

For the beginner, practice without effort is not true practice.

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

When the restrictions you have do not limit you, this is what we mean by practice.

True communication depends upon our being straightforward with one another… But the best way to communicate may be just to sit without saying anything.

There is no particular way in true practice. You should find your own way, and you should know what kind of practice you have right now.

The most important thing is to forget all gaining ideas, all dualistic ideas. In other words, just practice zazen in a certain posture.

In other restless positions you have no power to accept your difficulties, but in the zazen posture which you have acquired by long, hard practice, your mind and body have great power to accept things...

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

If you think you will get something from practicing zazen, already you are involved in impure practice.

A mind full of preconceived ideas, subjective intentions, or habits it not open to things as they are.

Zen practice is to open up our small mind.

In your big mind, everything has the same value…In your practice you should accept everything as it is, giving to each thing the same respect given to a Buddha. Here there is Buddhahood

It will take quite a long time before you find your calm, serene mind in your practice.

Christopher McCandless:”I will miss you too, but you are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God’s place is all around us, it is in...

That is not right practice.” Even in wrong practice, when you realize it and continue, there is right practice.

So without any intentional, fancy way of adjusting yourself, to express yourself freely as you are is the most important thing to make yourself happy, and to make others happy… So we should be concentrated...

Even when you practice zazen alone, without a teacher, I think you will find some way to tell whether your practice is adequate or not.

There is no certain way that exists permanently… Moment after moment we have to find our own way.

In zazen practice we say your mind should be concentrated on your breathing, but the way to keep your mind on your breathing is to forget all about yourself and just to sit and feel...

When you start to wander about in some delusion which is something apart from you yourself, then your surroundings are not real anymore, and your mind is not real anymore. If you yourself are deluded,...

Actually we do not have any particular name for our practice; when we practice zazen we just practice it, and whether we find joy in our practice or not, we just do it.

We emphasize straightforwardness. You should be true to your feelings, and to your mind, expressing yourself without any reservations. This helps the listener to understand more easily.

Just continue in your calm, ordinary practice and your character will be built up.

But as long as you have some fixed idea or are caught by some habitual way of doing things, you cannot appreciate things in their true sense.

Zazen practice and everyday activity are one thing. We call zazen everyday life, and everyday life zazen.

It is said that there are four kinds of horses: excellent ones, good ones, poor ones, and bad ones. The best horse will run slow and fast, right and left, at the driver’s will, before...

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

When we say something, our subjective intention or situation is always involved. So there is no perfect word; some distortion is always present in a statement.

Our effort in our practice should be directed from achievement to non-achievement.

Concentration is not to try hard to watch something… Concentration means freedom… In zazen practice we say your mind should be concentrated on your breathing, but the way to keep your mind on your breathing...

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

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

Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.

But the way of practice is just to be concentrated on your breathing with the right posture and with great, pure effort.

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… Zen practice is to open up our small mind.

To die is more important than trying to be alive. When we try to be alive, we have trouble. Rather than trying to be alive or active, if we can be calm and die or...

But if you make your best effort just to continue your practice with your whole mind and body, without gaining ideas, then whatever you do will be true practice.

Whereever 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...

But do not give up your practice; continue it, knowing your weakness.

The best way to contorl people is to encourage them to be mischievous…To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him. So it is with people: first let...

To have some deep feeling about Buddhism is not the point; we just do what we should do, like eating supper and going to bed. This is Buddhism.

Waves are the practice of the water.

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...

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

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous…To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him. So it is with people: first let...