Every thought, every word, and every action leaves an imprint on our mind.

The view is like a lion - it cannot be led around by anything else. Meditation is like an eagle - it cannot be distracted by anything else. Action is like a madman - it is free from accepting and rejecting.

Sleep is the best meditation.

My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantabhadri. I belong to the caste of non-duality of these two.

Life is available only in the present moment.

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

The dharma is not outside of you. Looking for it elsewhere is like placing a Buddha on your head while searching for him everywhere else.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Meditation is not about achieving anything. It's about letting go of everything.

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

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

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

For whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible. For whom emptiness is not possible, nothing is possible.

By understanding emptiness, one understands all phenomena. Without understanding emptiness, one understands nothing.

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

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

In meditation, we're not trying to get rid of thoughts but to recognize their true nature.

Short moments, many times. That is the essence of meditation practice.

The great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

Mindfulness is attention to life, and life itself is sacred.

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

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.

The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the dharma gate of joyful ease.

The path is the goal. Every step of the journey is the journey.

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes.

Do not mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization for liberation.

True freedom is a freedom from the tyranny of our own thoughts and afflictive emotions.

Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, so also this teaching and discipline has one taste, the taste of liberation.

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.

The time of the past becomes the present, the time of the present becomes the future, the time of the future becomes the present, and the time of the present becomes the past.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

Meditation is not about escaping from difficulty but about meeting it with awareness.

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.