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

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

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

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

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that's really swell.

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

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

The purpose of Buddhist practice is not to become a Buddhist but to awaken to the nature of reality.

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

The defilements of the mind are temporary visitors. Pure awareness is your true home.

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

To live is enough.

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

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

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

When one sees with wisdom that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, one is liberated from suffering.

The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech.

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.

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

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

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

Just as the wise do not take a mirage to be water, nor an echo to be a voice, so the enlightened do not take the world to be real.

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.

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

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.

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.

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

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

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

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

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

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

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

Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, wisdom arises naturally as we open our hearts to the truth of what is.

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

The three characteristics - impermanence, suffering, and non-self - are not philosophical concepts but aspects of experience to be directly observed.

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

True happiness is not found through the multiplication of desires but through their simplification.

Appearances are mind, mind itself is emptiness, emptiness itself is spontaneous presence.

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

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

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

The first noble truth of the Buddha is that life contains suffering. The second noble truth is that the cause of suffering is craving.

Real happiness lies within. It cannot be found in external objects or achievements.

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 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.

The practice of ethics is not about following rules but about developing inner purity and freedom.

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

The lamp of wisdom burns constantly, illuminating the nature of mind.

Right View is not just a matter of intellectual understanding but of seeing things as they really are.

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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