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

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

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

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

My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantabhadri. I belong to the caste of non-duality of these two.

What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.

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

Neither from itself nor from another, nor from both, nor without a cause, does anything whatever, anywhere arise.

Whatever is dependently co-arisen, that is explained to be emptiness. That, being a dependent designation, is itself the middle way.

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

The one who grasps at existence suffers in samsara, while the one who grasps at non-existence will find no liberation.

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

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.

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

The world is its own magic.

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.

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

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

Life is available only in the present moment.

The path to liberation requires both individual effort and the support of the spiritual community.

The more you understand, the more you love; the more you love, the more you understand.

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

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

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

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

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

Change is possible because there is nothing inherently permanent about our disturbing emotions.

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

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

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

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

Happiness is not about getting what you want, but wanting what you've got.

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

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.

Both formerly and now, it is only suffering that I describe, and the cessation of suffering.

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

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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

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

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

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.

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

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.

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

To live – is that not enough? To love – is that not everything?

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

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 realization of impermanence leads not to despair but to a deeper appreciation of the preciousness of each moment.

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

Intrinsically all living beings are Buddhas, just as ice and water are of the same substance.

The Dhamma unfolds in accordance with a definite sequence: faith, virtue, learning, generosity, wisdom, and insight.

True happiness is born of letting go of what is unnecessary.

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

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