The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

The supreme path is not to fabricate anything. The supreme meditation is not to be distracted.

If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence.

You are the master of your own mind. You can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.

To understand everything is to forgive everything.

In the monastery of your body, the monk of your mind must stay in retreat.

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

The root of happiness is altruism — the wish to be of service to others.

Meditation is like catching a fish. If you try to catch it quickly, you'll miss it. If you have patience and know how to wait, the fish will come.

Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate. Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted. Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled. Look within, be still.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

Trees, mountains, and vines all exist in nature according to their own truth. They are born and die following their nature. They remain this way because that's what they are. They don't practice meditation or do anything special.

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

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

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

The cultivation of loving-kindness is the thread that runs through all Buddhist teachings.

The more we understand impermanence, the more we understand that we can't hold on to anything.

When one sees with wisdom that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, one is liberated from suffering.

Real freedom is not about controlling our experience, but about being free within our experience.

The mind is the source of all happiness and the source of all suffering.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought.

Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. Let him find pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good.

Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.

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

The five aggregates are not a theoretical model but a description of lived experience to be investigated through mindfulness.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

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.

Insight knowledge comes from direct experience, not from intellectual understanding.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.