The innocence of the first inquiry – what am I? – is needed throughout Zen practice.
The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities.
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In the beginner’s mind there is no thought “I have attained something.” All self-centred thoughts limit our vast mind. When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners. Then we can really learn something. The beginners mind is the mind of (com)passion.
[…]
This is also the real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.
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The teaching which is written on paper is not the true teaching. Written teaching is a kind of food for your brain. Of course it is necessary to take some food for your brain, but it is more important to be yourself by practicing the right way of life.
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But perfect freedom is not found without some rules. People, especially young people, think that freedom is to do what they want, that in Zen there is no need for rules. But it is absolutely necessary for us to have some rules. But this does not mean always to be under control. As long as you have rules, you have a chance for freedom.
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We must make some effort, but we must forget ourselves in the effort we make.
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But if you make your best effort just to continue your practice with your whole mind and body, without gaining ideas, then whatever you do will be right practice. Just to continue should be your purpose. When you do something, just to do it should be your purpose.
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The four Buddhist vows:
Although sentient beings are innumerable, we vow to save them.
Although our evil desires are limitless, we vow to be rid of them.
Although the teaching is limitless, we vow to learn them all.
Although Buddhism is unattainable, we vow to attain it.
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Calmness of mind does not mean you should stop your activity. Real calmness should be found in activity itself. We say, “It is easy to have calmness in inactivity, it is hard to have calmness in activity, but calmness in activity is true calmness.”

So there is no need to worry about progress. It is like studying a foreign language; you cannot do it all of a sudden, but by repeating it over and over you will master it. […] We can say either that we make progress little by little, or that we do not even expect to make progress. Just to be sincere and make our full effort in each moment is enough.
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In zazen what you are doing is not for the sake of anything. […] But as long as you think you are practicing zazen for the sake of something, that is not true practice.
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The most important thing is to express your true nature in the simplest, most adequate way and to appreciate it in the smallest existence.
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The most important thing is to forget all gaining ideas, all dualistic ideas. In other words, just practice zazen in a certain posture. Do not think about anything. Just remain on your cushion without expecting anything. Then eventually you will resume your own true nature. That is to say, your own true nature resumes itself.
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Of course, whatever we do is unusual, because our life itself is so unusual.

So we should not do it as if it were preparing for something else. This should be true in our everyday life. To cook, or to fix some food, is not preparation, according to Dogen; it is practice. To cook is not just to prepare food for someone or for yourself; it is to express your sincerity.
So when you cook you should express yourself in your activity in the kitchen. You should allow yourself plenty of time; you should work on it with nothing in your mind, and without expecting anything. You should just cook!
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We should appreciate what we are doing. There is no preparation for something else.
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Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine. If you become too busy and too excited, your mind becomes rough and ragged. This is not good. If possible, try to be always calm and joyful and keep yourself from excitement.
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Do not be too interested in Zen.
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People ask what it means to practice zazen with no gaining idea, what kind of effort is necessary for that kind of practice. The answer is: effort to get rid of something extra from your practice.
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In order not to leave any traces, when you do something, you should do it with your whole body and mind; you should be concentrated on what you do. You should do it completely, like a good bonfire. You should not be a smoky fire. You should burn yourself completely. If you do not burn yourself completely, a trace of yourself will be left in what you do. You will have something which is not completely burned out. Zen activity is activity which is completely burned out, with nothing remaining but ashes.
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When we sit in the cross-legged posture, we resume our fundamental activity of creation. There are perhaps three kinds of creation. The first is to be aware of ourselves after we finish zazen. When we sit we are nothing, we do not even realize what we are; we just sit. But when we stand up, we are there! That is the first step in creation. When you are there, everything else is there; everything is created all at once. When we emerge from nothing, when everything emerges from nothing, we see it all as a fresh new creation. This is non-attachment. The second kind of creation is when you act, or produce or prepare something like food or tea. The third kind is to create something within yourself, such as education, or culture, or art, or some system for our society. So there are three kinds of creation. But if you forget the first, the most important one, the other two will be like children who have lost their parents; their creation will mean nothing.
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And we should forget, day by day, what we have done; this is true non-attachment. And we should do something new. To do something new, of course we must know our past, and this is all right. But we should not keep holding onto anything we have done; we should only reflect on it. And we must have some idea of what we should do in the future. But the future is the future, the past is the past; now we should work on something new.
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You become discouraged with your practice when your practice has been idealistic. You have some gaining idea in your practice, and it is not pure enough. It is when your practice is rather greedy that you become discouraged with it.
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Whether you have difficulties in your practice or not, as long as you continue it, you have pure practice in its true sense.

Even in wrong practice, when you realize it and continue, there is right practice. Our practice cannot be perfect, but without being discouraged by this, we should continue it. This is the secret of practice.
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We need some teaching, but just by studying the teaching alone, it is impossible to know what “I” in myself am. Through the teaching we may understand our human nature. But the teaching is not we ourselves; it is some explanation of ourselves. So if you are attached to the teaching, or to the teacher, that is a big mistake. The moment you meet a teacher, you should leave the teacher, and you should be independent. You need a teacher so that you can become independent. If you are not attached to him, the teacher will show you the way to yourself. You have a teacher for yourself, not for the teacher.
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Of course some encouragement is necessary, but that encouragement is just encouragement. It is not the true purpose of practice. It is just medicine. When we become discouraged we want some medicine. When we are in good spirits we do not need any medicine. You should not mistake medicine for food. Sometimes medicine is necessary, but it should not become our food.
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What is true zazen? When you become you! When you are you, then no matter what you do, that is zazen.
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Instead of gathering knowledge, you should clear your mind. If your mind is clear, true knowledge is already yours.
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And we should not hoard knowledge; we should be free from our knowledge. If you collect various pieces of knowledge, as a collection it may be very good, but this is not our way. We should not try to surprise people by our wonderful treasures. We should not be interested in something special. If you want to appreciate something fully, you should forget yourself. You should accept it like lightning flashing in the utter darkness of the sky.
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The usual translation of the Japanese word nin is “patience”, but perhaps “constancy” is a better word. You must force yourself to be patient, but in constancy there is no particular effort involved – there is only the unchanging ability to accept things as they are.

Nin is the way we cultivate our own spirit. Nin is our way of continuous practice. We should always live in the dark empty sky.
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To understand reality as a direct experience is the reason we practice zazen, and the reason we study Buddhism.

In a strict sense, it is not possible to speak about reality.

Your master’s direct statement may not be only in words; his behaviour is likewise his way of expressing himself. In Zen we put emphasis on demeanour, or behaviour. By behaviour we do not mean a particular way that you ought to behave, but rather the natural expression of yourself. We emphasize straightforwardness. You should be true to your feelings, and to your mind, expressing yourself without any reservations. This helps the listener to understand more easily.
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A mind full of preconceived ideas, subjective intentions, or habits is not open to things as they are. That is why we practice zazen: to clear our mind of what is related to something else.
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Zen is not some fancy, special art of living. Our teaching is just to live, always in reality, in its exact sense. To make our effort, moment after moment, is our way. In an exact sense, the only thing we actually can study in our life is that on which we are working in each moment.
True communication depends upon our being straightforward with one another. Zen masters are very straightforward. If you do not understand the reality directly, through your master’s words, he may use his staff on you.

But the best way to communicate may be just to sit without saying anything. Then you will have the full meaning of Zen.
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So big mind is something to express, but it is not something to figure out. Big mind is something you have, not something to seek for. Big mind is something to talk about, or to express by our activity, or something to enjoy.

So whether you have a problem in your life or not depends upon your own attitude, your own understanding.
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The most important things in our practice are our physical posture and our way of breathing.

[…] Zen is not concerned about philosophical understanding. We emphasize practice.
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According to the traditional Buddhist understanding, our human nature is without ego. When we have no idea of ego, we have Buddha’s view of life. Our egoistic ideas are delusion, covering our Buddha nature. We are always creating and following them, and in repeating this process over and over again, our life becomes completely occupied by ego-centred ideas. This is called karmic life, or karma. The Buddhist life should not be karmic life. The purpose of our practice is to cut off the karmic spinning mind. If you are trying to attain enlightenment, that is a part of karma, you are creating and being driven by karma, and you are wasting your time on your black cushion.

More important than any stage which you will attain is your sincerity, your right effort.

If our practice is only a means to attain enlightenment, there is actually no way to attain it! We lose the meaning of the way to the goal. But when we believe in our way firmly, we have already attained enlightenment. When you believe in your way, enlightenment is there. But when you cannot believe in the meaning of the practice which you are doing in this moment, you cannot do anything. You are just wandering around the goal with your monkey mind. You are always looking for something without knowing what you are doing. If you want to see something, you should open your eyes.
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[…] the most important thing is this moment, not some day in the future. We have to make our effort in this moment. This is the most important thing for our practice.
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So our understanding of Buddhism is not just an intellectual understanding. Our understanding at the same time is its own expression, is the practice itself. Not by reading or contemplation of philosophy, but only through practice, actual practice, can we understand what Buddhism is.
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Teaching which does not sound as if it is forcing something on you is not true teaching.

We should find perfection in imperfection.
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There is harmony in our activity, and where there is harmony there is calmness.
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For a plant or stone to be natural is no problem. But for us there is some problem, indeed a big problem. To be natural is something which we must work on.
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When you do something, you should be completely involved in it. You should devote yourself to it completely.
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As long as we have some definite idea about or some hope in the future, we cannot really be serious with the moment that exists right now.

When you study Buddhism, you should have a general house cleaning of your mind. You must take everything out of your room and clean it thoroughly. If it is necessary, you may bring everything back in again. You may want many things, so one by one you can bring them back. But if they are not necessary, there is no need to keep them.
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Zazen practice and everyday activity are one thing. We call zazen everyday life, and everyday life zazen.
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Each existence depends on something else. Strictly speaking, there are no separate individual existences. There are just many names for one existence.
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Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are the four activities or ways of behaviour in Buddhism.
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How to sit is how to act. We study how to act by sitting, and this is the most basic activity for us.

When they put emphasis on zazen, it is not true zazen.
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Buddha’s teaching is everywhere. […] Religion is everywhere. […] Teaching is in each moment, in every existence. That is the true teaching.
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