Few among men are they who cross to the further shore. The others merely run up and down the bank on this side.

The ultimate purpose of Buddhism is to serve and benefit humanity.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

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

To live fully is to let go and die with each step.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma - the way to liberation - which is universal.

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

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.

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

Peace is not found by changing the world, but by changing your attitude to the world.

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

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

Wisdom arises when you see the true characteristics of phenomena through direct experience.

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

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

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

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

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

The nature of mind is not something we need to achieve - it's something we need to recognize.

Our basic nature is pure awareness that simply cognizes experience. Everything else is temporary and adventitious.

To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.

True freedom is a freedom from the tyranny of our own thoughts and afflictive emotions.

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

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

When you recognize that pain and suffering are impermanent, you become free.

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

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

Recognize the emptiness of all phenomena, but do not become attached to emptiness itself.

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

The quality of every moment depends on the state of our minds.

The goal of the Buddhist path is not to add something to our existence but to discover something that has been there all along.

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 Buddha's teaching is not a philosophy or a religion; it is a method of practice.

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

The world is its own magic.

Not knowing how near the truth is, we seek it far away.

The only things that are truly mine are my actions and their results.

To see nothing is to perceive the Way, and to understand nothing is to know the Dharma.

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

The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.

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

The Buddha taught us to leave alone the things that don't lead to awakening.

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.

The path of practice moves from faith through understanding to direct realization.

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

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

External phenomena are like a dream, whatever appears is not real. Recognize the nature of dream-like phenomena to be dream-like.

Each moment of clear seeing is a moment of freedom from the illusion of permanence, satisfaction, and self.

Birth and death are neither two things nor one thing. Life is not an appearance, death is not a disappearance.

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

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

To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy. This is the goal of Buddhist practice.

The law of nature is the law of cause and effect. As you sow, so shall you reap.

The Buddha's teaching is not about belief but about investigation, not about accepting but about examining.

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