The deepest form of happiness comes from discovering the natural peace of our own awareness.

In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we possess.

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.

When you note pain, you should not dwell on the thought, "I feel pain." Simply recognize the presence of pain.

When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight.

Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.

What Zen wants us to do is to acquire an entirely new point of view whereby to look into the mysteries of life and the secrets of nature.

In the moment of anger, abandon anger but not the person. In the moment of attachment, abandon attachment but not the person.

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.

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.

Enlightenment is not the end of change but the end of resistance to change.

We can learn to be present with whatever is happening in our lives, and in this way, we can begin to transform our relationship to difficulty.

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.

In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived, how well we have loved, how well we have learned to let go.

When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?

The nature of mind is clearer than the sky, yet we keep looking elsewhere.

All that appears and exists, all of samsara and nirvana, has one ground, two paths, and two results. This is the magical display of awareness and unawareness.

If you want to find peace, then look at that point where you find you're dissatisfied and investigate what's really going on.

The path to liberation requires both understanding and practice, both pariyatti and patipatti.

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.

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

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

When we look directly at our thoughts, they dissolve like bubbles in water.

The practice of mindfulness leads naturally to concentration. Concentration leads naturally to wisdom.

The Buddha and all sentient beings are nothing but expressions of the one mind. There is nothing else.

True happiness comes from a sense of inner peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through cultivation of altruism, of love, of compassion.

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

Meditation is not about trying to change ourselves. Meditation is about being aware of what is.

Just know what is happening in your mind - not happy or sad about it, not attached. If you suffer, see it, know it, be empty.

The door of your heart can only be opened from the inside.