The mind is like a well-forged sword - it adapts to all situations.

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

The highest truth cannot be taught except through the conventional truth.

World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.

To understand everything is to forgive everything.

The rising and falling of the abdomen is not the main object. The main object is to develop mindfulness, concentration, and insight.

The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.

The purpose of meditation is not to create a new state of mind, but to recognize what is already present.

Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake up and become aware. It does not teach, it points.

Zen is not necessarily against words, but it is well aware of their limitations.

Change is possible because there is nothing inherently permanent about our disturbing emotions.

The restraint of the senses is not a matter of suppression but of wise attention to our experience.

The treasure house within you contains everything, and you are free to use it. You don't need to seek outside.

You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.

Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we're holding back.

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

The difference between buddhas and sentient beings is that buddhas recognize their nature while sentient beings fail to recognize it.

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

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment.

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

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

When we know the truth, we become people who don't have to think much, we become people with wisdom.

The true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.

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

The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds.

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

Zazen is not step-by-step meditation. Rather it is simply the easy and pleasant practice of a Buddha, the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom.

The superior person is like water, bringing benefit to all without competing.

The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.

The path to liberation requires both individual effort and the support of the spiritual community.

People who study a lot but don't practice are like a ladle in a soup pot. It's in the soup every day, but it doesn't know the taste of the soup.

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

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