We do not exist for the sake of something else. We exist for the sake of ourselves.

The best way to control cow and sheep is to give them a big grazing field.

If you were not born in this world, there would be no need to die. To be born in this world is to die, to disappear [laughing].

When my master and I were walking in the rain, he would say, 'Do not walk so fast, the rain is everywhere.'

Life without zazen is like winding your clock without setting it. It runs perfectly well, but it dosen't tell time.

When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything. The best way is to understand yourself, and then you will understand everything.

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.