Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.

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

In the Lotus Sutra, Buddha says to light up one corner - not the whole world. Just make it clear where you are.

When you say, "Wait a moment," you are bound by your karma; when you say "Yes I will," you are free.

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.

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves. That is why we have teaching. But the teaching is not ourselves. It is some explanation of ourselves. To study the teaching is to know yourselves. That is why we do not ever attach to the teaching, or to the teacher. The moment you meet a teacher you should leave the teacher, and you should be independent. You want a teacher so that you can be independent. So you study yourselves. You have the teacher for yourselves, not for the teacher.

Life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact, we have no fear of death anymore, nor actual difficulty in our life.