The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.

Meditation is not about getting rid of thoughts; it's about changing the way we relate to them.

World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.

The first step toward faith is to admit that we don't know everything.

What you are is what you have been. What you'll be is what you do now.

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

The master's introduction is direct recognition of one's own nature. Meditation is maintaining the continuity of this recognition.

Compassion is a verb.

The practice of meditation requires both energy and patience, both effort and relaxation.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

Those who know emptiness, know impermanence. Those who know impermanence, know non-self. Those who know non-self, know peace.

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.

The water in the ocean can be rough or calm. It can be clear or murky. But the water itself doesn't mind.

The essence of the teaching is emptiness and compassion. Without emptiness, compassion can become attachment. Without compassion, emptiness can become cold and distant.

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

Meditation in the midst of activity is a thousand times superior to meditation in stillness.

Buddhist practice is not to eliminate life's problems but to grow with them patiently and with compassion.

Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.

True peace is found not in the absence of experience but in the clear seeing of all experience.

All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha.

Sticking with uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic—this is the spiritual path.

Intrinsically all living beings are Buddhas, just as ice and water are of the same substance.

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

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

Mindfulness means keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality.

The more precisely you note, the more clearly you understand. The more clearly you understand, the stronger your insight becomes.

The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech.

When I run from suffering, it follows me. When I face suffering with equanimity, it runs from me.

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.