Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

Our task is not to seek for love but to find all the barriers within ourselves that we have built against it.

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.

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

Each moment of clear seeing is a moment of freedom from the illusion of permanence, satisfaction, and self.

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced mind that sees things clearly without reaction.

The dharma is not about collecting more beliefs but about becoming free from the power of belief itself.

The victorious ones have said that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incurable.

The three characteristics - impermanence, suffering, and non-self - are not philosophical concepts but aspects of experience to be directly observed.

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

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

The knowledge of dissolution comes when you see both the noting mind and noted object dissolving together.

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.

The mind is like water. When it's turbulent, it's difficult to see. When it's calm, everything becomes clear.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

Every time we become aware of a thought, as opposed to being lost in a thought, we experience that opening of the mind.

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

As surely as there is a voyage away, there is a journey home.

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

Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look.

We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

Observe the reality as it is, not as you wish it to be.

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

If you want to know the past, look at the present. If you want to know the future, look at the present.

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

The practitioner and practice are like fire and wood. The more you practice, the more you burn.

Don't expect or desire anything. Just keep noting whatever arises in the present moment.

The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand; I take a book from the other side of the desk; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring wood: all these I do in Zen.

The measure of success in spiritual life is how peaceful you are.

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

Personal experience is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

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