All experiences are preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind. Speak or act with a corrupted mind, and suffering follows as the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox.

Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.

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

Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes.

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

Happiness is found in the simplest of things. It is not in the things you own, but in the love you share.

When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you intuit dharma intimately.

Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.

The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.

When things fall apart and we're on the verge of we know not what, the test of each of us is to stay on that brink and not concretize.

The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.

In the moment of love, awareness is very strong. Use that awareness, that strength of consciousness, to look into yourself.

The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with.

When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet it.

Faith is the firm foundation, diligence the supporting pillar, and wisdom the roof of the house of practice.

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

Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking.

When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point.

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

Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.

The real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

Understanding at the intellectual level is not enough. There must be experience at the actual level.

The way we look at the world is the way the world looks.

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

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.

The practice of meditation is not about achieving states of bliss but about seeing things as they really are.

Life is like a cup of tea. It's all in how you make it.

Meditation is the ultimate mobile device; you can use it anywhere, anytime, unobtrusively.

Appearances are mind, mind itself is emptiness, emptiness itself is spontaneous presence.

Each moment of noting is a moment of purification, a moment of cultivating the path.

To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.