The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma - the way to liberation - which is universal.

Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment.

Our task is to learn to see clearly what is happening in each moment, rather than be lost in our reactions and judgments.

The Buddha taught us to leave alone the things that don't lead to awakening.

To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.

Change is possible because there is nothing inherently permanent about our disturbing emotions.

Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.

As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy. This is the goal of Buddhist practice.

The purpose of Buddhist practice is not to become a Buddhist but to awaken to the nature of reality.

Let go of what has passed. Let go of what may come. Let go of what is happening now. Don't try to figure anything out. Don't try to make anything happen. Relax, right now, and rest.

The Noble Eightfold Path is a path of training: training in ethical conduct, training in mental discipline, and training in wisdom.

We can learn the art of fierce compassion - redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking.

Enlightenment is not the end of change but the end of resistance to change.

There are many ways to meditate. But at the heart of them all is mindfulness.

When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

The goal of the Buddhist path is not to add something to our existence but to discover something that has been there all along.

Concentration and insight are like two wings of a bird: both are necessary for the flight to liberation.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

The world is its own magic.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.

What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.

Meditation is not an escape from life but a way to fully engage with life.

Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

The root of happiness is altruism — the wish to be of service to others.

The purpose of life is to be happy, to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is not to be well known, cited, or powerful.

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense.