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

When you are you, Zen is Zen. Big mind is just big mind.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

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 highest truth cannot be taught except through the conventional truth.

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

The essence of mind is empty like space; yet it contains all things, like a mirror.

The time of the past becomes the present, the time of the present becomes the future, the time of the future becomes the present, and the time of the present becomes the past.

Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.

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

The willingness to empty ourselves and then seek our true nature is an expression of great and courageous love.

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

The mind that sees its own nature becomes free from all extremes.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.

Whatever precious jewel there is in the heavenly worlds, there is nothing comparable to one who is awakened.

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

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 mind is the forerunner of all things. Our present life is the result of our past thoughts, and our future life will be the result of our present thoughts.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

Loving-kindness is not something we need to manufacture. It's a natural expression of our awakened nature.

The menu is not the meal.

The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

The essence of the spiritual journey is the uncovering of what is always already present.

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

Impermanence, suffering, and non-self are not philosophical concepts but realities to be directly perceived through mindfulness practice.

The essence of all phenomena is empty and clear like space. The nature of mind is awareness-emptiness like the sun and sky.

The purpose of meditation is to gain right understanding of the true nature of mental and physical phenomena.

Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

The nature of everything is illusory and ephemeral, those with dualistic perception regard suffering as happiness, like they who lick the honey from a razor's edge.

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

The root of suffering is attachment.

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

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

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.

The ocean does not reject any water; therefore it is great. The mountain does not select its stones; therefore it is great.

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

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

There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.

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

Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope - a slight change, and all patterns alter.

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.

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

True peace is found not in the absence of experience but in the clear seeing of all experience.

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

The more we understand the nature of our mind, the more we understand the nature of our world.

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

Enlightenment is the realization that we were never really separate from one another or from all of life.

When the iron bird flies and horses run on wheels, the Tibetan people will be scattered like ants across the face of the earth.

Happiness is not about getting what you want, but wanting what you've got.

The person who clings to nothing of the past, present and future, who has no attachment and no aversion, has no conceptual imprints.

The more we understand our mind, the more we understand the world.

To live is enough.

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

The teaching of the Buddha is based on two truths: conventional truth and ultimate truth. Without understanding the relationship between these two, the deeper meaning of the Buddha's teaching cannot be understood.