Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

The mind is intrinsically empty. It's empty of all that we perceive as being intrinsically "me" and "mine."

Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher.

Although all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, they function perfectly well.

Real freedom is not about controlling our experience, but about being free within our experience.

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

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

If you want to know your past life, look at your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.

The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

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

Through continuous mindfulness practice, the true nature of physical and mental phenomena becomes clear.

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

Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, so also this teaching and discipline has one taste, the taste of liberation.

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

Those who cling to perceptions and views wander the world offending people.

Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead, it's about becoming more fully human.

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

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

The past is for learning from, not for living in.

The more we understand impermanence, the more we appreciate each moment of our lives.

Life is available only in the present moment.

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

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.

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

If I had any position, I would thereby have a flaw. But since I have no position, I alone am without flaw.

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

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

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

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

The secret of happiness is to want what you already have.

The knowledge of dissolution comes when you see both the noting mind and noted object dissolving together.

Those who grasp at things as truly existent are like someone trying to catch the reflection of the moon in water.

The Noble Eightfold Path is not a path of mere intellectual understanding but a path of practice, of inner transformation.

Real peace comes from seeing things as they really are, not as we want them to be.

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

When you understand that all phenomena are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self, attachment naturally falls away.

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

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

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

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

The water in the ocean can be rough or calm. It can be clear or murky. But the water itself doesn't mind.

When we understand that peace is not dependent on external conditions, we can find it in the midst of any circumstance.

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

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

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

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

Everybody has the light of Buddha within, but they don't look for it.

Happiness is found in the simplest of things. It is not in the things you own, but in the love you share.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

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

The way we look at the world is the way the world looks.

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

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