“As mortals, we’re ruled by conditions, not by ourselves.”

The Way is basically perfect. It doesn’t require perfecting.

I never lost or fail, not yet conquered. If I fall seven times, I get up eight

The mind is the Buddha, and the Buddha is the mind.

And the Buddha is the person who’s free: free of plans, free of cares.

But while success and failure depend on conditions, the mind neither waxes nor wanes.

Externally keep yourself away from all relationships, and internally have no pantings in your heart; when your mind is like unto a straight-standing wall, you may enter into the Path.

If you see your nature, you don’t need to read sutras or invoke buddhas. Erudition and knowledge are not only useless but also cloud your awareness. Doctrines are only for pointing to the mind. Once you see your mind, why pay attention to doctrines?

Not thinking about anything is zen. Once you know this, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is zen. To know that the mind is empty is to see the buddha…. Using the mind to reality is delusion. Not using the mind to look for reality is awareness. Freeing oneself from words is liberation.

The Dharma is the truth that all natures are pure.

If your mind is pure, all buddha-lands are pure.

If we should be blessed by some great reward, such as fame or fortune, it’s the fruit of a seed planted by us in the past.

To give up yourself without regret is the greatest charity.

If you use your mind to look for a Buddha, you won’t see the Buddha.

To have a body is to suffer.

The mind is always present. You just don’t see it.

People who don’t see their own nature and imagine they can practice thoughtlessness all the time are liars and fools.