and one with sun and the stars you see.
You are one with everything.
This is more true than I can say,
and more true than you can hear.”

“When you bow, you should just bow; when you sit, you should just sit; when you eat, you should just eat. If you do this, the universal nature is there. In Japanese we call it ichigyo-zammai, or ‘one act samadhi.’ Zammai (or samadhi) is ‘concentration.’ Ichigyo is ‘one practice.’ ”

“Doing something is expressing our own nature.”

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

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

“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 right and wrong or good and bad. We just see things as they are with him, and accept them. This is how we communicate with each other. Usually when you listen to some statement, you hear it as a kind of echo of yourself. You are actually listening to your own opinion. If it agrees with your opinion you may accept it, but if it does not, you will reject it or you may not even really hear it.”

“If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything,
it is open to everything.
In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities,
but in the experts mind there are few.”

“There is also the real secret of the arts:
always be a beginner.”

“The world is its own magic.”

“Zen is not some fancy, special art of living.
Our teaching is just to live, always in reality,
in its exact sense.
To make our effort, moment after moment, is our way.”


Source: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind