A garden is never finished.

The mind we have when we practice zazen is the great mind: we don't try to see anything; we stop conceptual thinking; we stop emotional activity; we just sit. Whatever happens to us, we are not bothered. We just sit. It is like something happening in the great sky. Whatever kind of bird flies through it, the sky doesn't care. That is the mind transmitted from Buddha to us.

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

Big mind is something to express, not something to figure out. Big mind is something you have, not something to seek for.

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

Even though you try to put people under control, it is impossible. You cannot do it. The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense. To give your sheep or cow a large spacious meadow is the way to control him. So it is with people: first let them do what they want, and watch them. This is the best policy. To ignore them is not good. That is the worst policy. The second worst is trying to control them. The best one is to watch them, just to watch them, without trying to control them.

In the zazen posture, your mind and body have, great power to accept things as they are, whether agreeable or disagreeable.