The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.

Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts.

The eye with which I see Buddha is the same eye with which Buddha sees me.

Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.

The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.

Let go of what has passed. Let go of what may come. Let go of what is happening now. Don't try to figure anything out. Don't try to make anything happen. Relax, right now, and rest.

The secret of happiness lies not in getting what we want, but in learning to want what we already have.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

Love is the wish that others be happy, and compassion is the wish that they be free from suffering.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

Don't be a bodhisatta; don't be an arahant; don't be anything at all. Being something makes you suffer.

Kindness is the solution to all of life's problems.

The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.

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

When we see the nature of the mind, we see that we are not our thoughts.

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

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

Altruism is not a luxury, it is a necessity for the survival of humanity.

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

A pure mind is always full of love - real love for all others.

Try to be mindful and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool.

You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can't solve your own doubts. Investigate yourself to find the truth - inside, not outside.

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

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

Study the Buddha's teaching which is present in every moment.

Change is the nature of every phenomenon. Accept this truth and you will live a happy life.

Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks.

Each breath is a new beginning, a fresh opportunity to awaken.

Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.

Real peace comes from seeing things as they really are, not as we want them to be.

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.

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

The nature of mind is like a mirror. It is not affected by whatever appears in it, yet it never fails to reflect everything perfectly.