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

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

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

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

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

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

The path of awakening is not about becoming who we think we should be, but about unbecoming who we are not.

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

The nature of mind is the unity of awareness and emptiness.

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

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

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.

In the spiritual world there are no time divisions such as the past, present and future; for they have contracted themselves into a single moment of the present where life quivers in its true sense.

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

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

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

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

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

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

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

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

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

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

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

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 deepest form of happiness comes from discovering the natural peace of our own awareness.

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

Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.

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

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.

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.

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

For whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible. For whom emptiness is not possible, nothing is possible.

What we learn about the world is colored by the way we approach it.

The dharma wheel turns from the beginning. There is neither excess nor deficiency. The whole universe is moistened with nectar, and the truth is ready to harvest.

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

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

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

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

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

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

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

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

Craving and aversion are the roots of suffering. Observe them with equanimity.

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

The spiritual journey begins with the recognition that beneath our surface happiness there lies a deep inner pain.