The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transiency, or change.

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

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

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

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

The eye with which I see Buddha is the same eye with which Buddha sees me.

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?

Don't try to push away the darkness. Just light a lamp. The darkness will disappear by itself.

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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 our lives is to be happy, and happiness is found in benefiting others.

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

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.

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

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

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.

Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.

What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.

The essence of Buddhism is not a belief system but a systematic investigation of our experience.

Every being has the potential of becoming a Buddha. Our true nature is Buddha nature.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

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

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

The six realms of existence are like a dream, why build a prison for yourself?

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

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

The nature of the mind is like the sky, and our thoughts, emotions, and experiences are like clouds passing through it.

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

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

Like a dream, like an illusion, like a city of gandharvas, that's how birth, and that's how living, that's how dying are taught to be.

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

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

When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

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

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

Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.

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

The mind of the past is ungraspable; the mind of the future is ungraspable; the mind of the present is ungraspable.

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

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

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

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

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

In the moment of pure noting, there is no self - only the knowing and the known.

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

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

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