The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.

The past is just a memory. The future is just a dream. Be here now.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

Both formerly and now, it is only suffering that I describe, and the cessation of suffering.

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

By understanding emptiness, one understands all phenomena. Without understanding emptiness, one understands nothing.

When concentration is developed, wisdom arises. When wisdom arises, one becomes disenchanted with the five aggregates.

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

True happiness is born of letting go of what is unnecessary.

Wherever you are, you are one with the clouds and one with the sun and the stars you see. You are one with everything. That is more true than I can say, and more true than you can hear.

The mind that notes and the object that is noted are both impermanent. Understanding this leads to liberation.

The root of suffering is not in the world outside us but in our own minds.

Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves.

Real happiness comes from having an unshakable connection to the deep wellspring of peace and happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.

Since all things are empty of inherent existence, anything is possible. If things had inherent existence, nothing would be possible.

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

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

Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the "support," of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached.

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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

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

The Dhamma unfolds in accordance with a definite sequence: faith, virtue, learning, generosity, wisdom, and insight.

The purpose of life is to be happy, to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is not to be well known, cited, or powerful.

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.

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.

The biggest prison is the one we build in our own mind.

Neither from itself nor from another, nor from both, nor without a cause, does anything whatever, anywhere arise.

Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.

What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.

The Four Noble Truths are not merely theoretical propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our experience.

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

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

Your own treasure house contains everything you need; why search outside?

The nature of life is change. The nature of change is painful. The nature of pain is temporary.

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look into your present actions.

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.

Whatever is dependently co-arisen, that is explained to be emptiness. That, being a dependent designation, is itself the middle way.

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

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

Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.

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

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

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality 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.

What we learn about the world is colored by the way we approach it.

The Buddha's teachings are not a religion, but a science of mind.

Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

The farther you enter into truth, the deeper it is.

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

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

The Dhamma is not a collection of doctrinal formulas but a path leading to direct insight into the nature of reality.

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.