"The Sutra tells you plainly that there is only the Buddha Vehicle, and that there are no other vehicles, such as the second or the third. It is for the sake of this sole vehicle that Buddha had to preach to us with innumerable skilful devices, using various reasons and arguments, parables and illustrations, etc. ... You should appreciate that you are the sole owner of these valuables and they are entirely subject to your disposal. When you are free from the arbitrary conception that they are the father's, or the son's, or that they are at so and so's disposal, you may be said to have learned the right way to recite the Sutra."

"To start by seeking for Trikaya and the four Prajnas is to take an entirely wrong course (for being inherent in us they are to be realized and not to be sought). To try to "grasp" or "confine" them is to go against their intrinsic nature."

"If I tell you that I have a system of Law [Dharma] to transmit to others, I am cheating you. What I do to my disciples is to liberate them from their own bondage with such devices as the case may need."

"When your mind is enlightened, you will know the Essence of Mind, and then you may tread the Path the right way. Now you are under delusion, and do not know your Essence of Mind. Yet you dare to ask whether I know my Essence of Mind or not. If I do, I realize it myself, but the fact that I know it cannot help you from being under delusion. Similarly, if you know your Essence of Mind, your knowing would be of no use to me. Instead of asking others, why not see it for yourself and know it for yourself?"

"Knowing Buddha means nothing else than knowing sentient beings, for the latter ignore that they are potential Buddhas, whereas a Buddha sees no difference between himself and other beings. When sentient beings realize the Essence of Mind, they are Buddhas. If a Buddha is under delusion in his Essence of Mind, he is then an ordinary being. When your mind is crooked or depraved, you are ordinary beings with Buddha-nature latent in you. On the other hand, when you direct your mind to purity and straightforwardness even for one moment, you are a Buddha. Within our mind there is a Buddha, and that Buddha within is the real Buddha. If Buddha is not to be sought within our mind, where shall we find the real Buddha? Doubt not that Buddha is within your mind, apart from which nothing can exist. Since all things or phenomena are the production of our mind, the Sutra says, "When mental activity begins, things come into being; when mental activity ceases, they too cease to exist.""

"佛語心為宗。無門為法門。"

"東山演師祖曰。釋迦彌勒猶是他奴。且道他是阿誰。"

"芭蕉和尚示眾云。爾有拄杖子。我與爾拄杖子。爾無拄杖子。我奪爾拄杖子。"

"首山和尚。拈竹篦示眾云。汝等諸人若喚作竹篦則觸。不喚作竹篦則背。汝諸人且道。喚作甚麼。"

"達磨面壁。二祖立雪斷臂云。弟子心未安。乞師安心。磨云。將心來。與汝安。祖云。覓心了不可得。磨云。為汝安心竟。"

"五祖曰。譬如水牯牛過窗櫺。頭角四蹄都過了。因甚麼。尾巴過不得。"

"趙州因僧問。如何是祖師西來意。州云。庭前柏樹子。"

"五祖曰。路逢達道人。不將語默對。且道將甚麼對。"

"五祖問僧云。倩女離魂。那箇是真底。"

"南泉云。心不是佛。智不是道。"

"馬祖因僧問。如何是佛。祖曰。非心非佛。"

"如世良馬見鞭影而行。"

"馬祖因大梅問。如何是佛。祖云。即心是佛。"

"不是風動不是幡動仁者心動"

"提起云窮諸玄辨。若一毫致於太虛。竭世樞機。似一滴投於巨壑。"

"南泉和尚因僧問云。還有不與人說底法麼。泉云。有。僧云。如何是不與人說底法。泉云。不是心不是佛不是物。"

"祖云。不思善不思惡。正與麼時那箇是明上座。本來面目。"

"雲門因僧問。如何是佛。門云。乾屎橛。"

"南泉因趙州問。如何是道。泉云。平常心是道。"

"洞山和尚因僧問。如何是佛。山云。麻三斤。"

"瑞巖彥和尚。每日自喚主人公。復自應諾。乃云。惺惺著喏。他時異日。莫受人瞞。喏喏。"

"月庵和尚問僧。奚仲造車一百輻。拈卻兩頭。去卻軸。明甚麼邊事。"

"趙州和尚因僧問。狗子還有佛性。也無。州云。無。"

"When you reach the top of the mountain, keep climbing."

"The Buddha is said to have given a "silent sermon" once during which he held up a flower and gazed at it. After a while, one of those present, a monk called Mahakasyapa, began to smile. He is said to have been the only one who had understood the sermon. According to legend, that smile (that is to say, realization) was handed down by twenty-eight successive masters and much later became the origin of Zen."

"The Layman was sitting in his thatched cottage one day studying the sūtras. "Difficult, difficult," he said; "like trying to scatter ten measures of sesame seed all over a tree." "Easy, easy," Mrs. Pang said; "like touching your feet to the ground when you get out of bed." "Neither difficult nor easy," Ling Zhao said; "on the hundred grass tips, the great Masters' meaning.""

"A Zen master named Gisan asked a young student to bring him a pail of water to cool his bath. The student brought the water and, after cooling the bath, threw on to the ground the little that was left over. "You dunce!" the master scolded him. "Why didn't you give the rest of the water to the plants? What right have you to waste even a drop of water in this temple? The young student attained Zen in that instant. He changed his name to Tekisui, which means a drop of water."

"A soldier named Nobushige came to Hakuin, and asked: "Is there really a paradise and a hell?" "Who are you?" inquired Hakuin. "I am a samurai," the warrior replied. "You, a soldier!" exclaimed Hakuin. "What kind of ruler would have you as his guard? Your face looks like that of a beggar." Nobushige became so angry that he began to draw his sword, but Hakuin continued: "So you have a sword! Your weapon is probably much too dull to cut off my head." As Nobushige drew his sword Hakuin remarked: "Here open the gates of hell!" At these words the samurai, perceiving the master's discipline, sheathed his sword and bowed. "Here open the gates of paradise," said Hakuin."

"Not the wind, not the flag; mind is moving."

"Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed, that is human. When you are born, where do you come from? When you die, where do you go? Life is like a floating cloud which appears. Death is like a floating cloud which disappears. The floating cloud itself originally does not exist. Life and death, coming and going, are also like that. But there is one thing which always remains clear. It is pure and clear, not depending on life and death. Then what is the one pure and clear thing?"

"You know the sound of two hands clapping; tell me, what is the sound of one hand?"

"No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place."