We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what's happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what's happening.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

Every being has the potential of becoming a Buddha. Our true nature is Buddha nature.

Enlightenment is not about becoming something special, but about realizing what we already are.

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

The mind is like a wild monkey, jumping here and there. But through meditation, we learn to see whatever arises in our mind with more spaciousness and clarity.

The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.

If you want to know your past life, look at your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.

The more you are motivated by love, the more fearless and free your actions will be.

Peace in oneself, peace in the world.

The signs of practice are not in extraordinary experiences but in extraordinary awareness of ordinary experiences.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to bring everything onto the path. Every experience becomes an opportunity for awakening.

Those who cling to perceptions and views wander the world offending people.

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

Many people think excitement is happiness... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.

Mindfulness is the gentle effort to be continuously present with experience.

The only way to experience truth is to look within, to observe oneself.

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind.

The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds.

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

Vipassana is the art of living. Not the art of escaping.

Through continuous mindfulness practice, the true nature of physical and mental phenomena becomes clear.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.

The Four Noble Truths are not mere doctrinal propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our lives.

Compassion is a verb.

The practice of meditation is like tuning an instrument. Too tight, and the strings break. Too loose, and they won't play.

Zen is a way of life, not a theory or a piece of knowledge to be stored away in our minds.

Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

The only things that are truly mine are my actions and their results.

Freedom is not found in the absence of difficulty, but in our relationship to it.