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.

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

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

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

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

The path is not about moving from one place to another. It's about recognizing where we already are.

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.

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

Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.

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

Happiness is not the pursuit of an endless succession of experiences but an attitude toward life.

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

When we understand others, we understand ourselves. When we love others, we love ourselves.

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

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

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

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

The dharma is not about collecting more beliefs but about becoming free from the power of belief itself.

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

Suffering comes from our resistance to what is. Peace comes from our acceptance of what is.

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.

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

Those who grasp at things as truly existent are like someone trying to catch the reflection of the moon in water.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

The Buddha's path is not about becoming somebody different but about becoming more and more who you really are.

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.

The way is basically perfect. It is not a matter of practice or enlightenment.

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we possess.

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

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

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

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

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

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

When mindfulness becomes continuous, the distinction between the observer and the observed begins to break down.

The essence of the spiritual journey is the uncovering of what is always already present.

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

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 path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

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

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

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

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

Enlightenment is not about becoming something special, but about realizing what we already are.

The instant you speak about a thing, you miss the mark.

All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha.

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

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel.

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

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

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.

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.