To stop your mind does not mean to stop the activities of mind. It means your mind pervades your whole body.

An enlightened person does not ignore things and does not stick to things, not even to the truth.

When something dies is the greatest teaching.

The person who can freely acknowledge that life is full of difficulties can be free, because they are acknowledging the nature of life - that it can't be much else.

So it is not a matter of whether it is possible to attain Buddhahood, or if it is possible to make a tile a jewel. But just to work, just to live in this world with this understanding is the most important point, and that is our practice. That is true zazen.

If you try to observe the precepts, that is not true observation of precepts. When you observe the precepts without trying to observe the precepts, that is true observation of the precepts.

For Zen students a weed is a treasure. With this attitude, whatever you do, life becomes an art.