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

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

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.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

Past thoughts are traceless, clear, and empty. Future thoughts are unborn and fresh. The present moment abides naturally and unconstructed.

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

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

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

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

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.

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

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

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

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.

The Buddha's teachings are not a religion, but a science of mind.

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 mind that sees its own nature becomes free from all extremes.

The key to the Buddha's teaching is not grasping, not trying to hold onto things that are essentially impermanent and unstable.

Karma is not fate but the law of moral causation, showing us that we are the architects of our own destiny.

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

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

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

All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death.

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

Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.

The law of nature is the law of cause and effect. As you sow, so shall you reap.

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

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

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

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 Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

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.

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

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

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

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

Dependent origination is not a theory about the origin of the world but a teaching that shows how suffering originates in dependence on our own mental processes.

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

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

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

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

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

The teaching of the Buddha is based on two truths: conventional truth and ultimate truth. Without understanding the relationship between these two, the deeper meaning of the Buddha's teaching cannot be understood.

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

The mind that notes and the object that is noted are both impermanent. Understanding this leads to liberation.

If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look into your present actions.

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.

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

The path of practice moves from faith through understanding to direct realization.

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

Life is like a cup of tea. It's all in how you make it.

The essence of the teaching is emptiness and compassion. Without emptiness, compassion can become attachment. Without compassion, emptiness can become cold and distant.

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

The Buddha's teaching challenges us to master the art of living, to live in a way that leads to the extinction of suffering.

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

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