If knowledge does not liberate the self from the self, then ignorance is better than such knowledge. 

At any given moment, I open my eyes and exist. And before that, during all eternity, what was there? Nothing.

[Meditation] has nothing to do with training in some sort of technical skill or gaining crucial esoteric knowledge that cannot be attained any other way. Nor has it anything to do with transcending the human condition. It is about bringing forth positive qualities in us that will see us living meaningful and dignified human lives.

That best portion of a good man’s life, 
his little, nameless, unremembered acts 
of kindness and love.

We live in a rainbow of chaos.

Nothing is more important than the existence of what does not exist. 

In the sun
the butterfly wings
like a church
window

The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers. 

I wanted a perfect ending…Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity…

Nirvana is right there, before our eyes

True words always seem paradoxical but no other form of teaching can take their place.

By the way, do you know the joys of being alone, walking alone, lying in the sun alone?

I leave,
you stay
two autumns

I believe in an ultimate decency of things.

"Since it is all too clear

It takes time to grasp it.
When you understand that it’s foolish
to look for fire with fire
the meal is already cooked."

And don’t forget, of course, that getting rid of your ego is the biggest ego trip there is.

So I went forth from home in the houseless state, a quester of what is good, seeking the incomparable path to peace.

You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope.

Nothing is lost or wasted in this life.

Zen master Dōgen has pointed out that anxiety, when accepted, is the driving force to enlightenment in that it lays bare the human dilemma at the same time that it ignites our desire to break out of it.