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

The five aggregates are not a theoretical model but a description of lived experience to be investigated through mindfulness.

When you understand that all phenomena are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self, attachment naturally falls away.

To live is enough.

In the beginning, nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.

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.

When concentration is developed, wisdom arises. When wisdom arises, one becomes disenchanted with the five aggregates.

Love is the wish that others be happy, and compassion is the wish that they be free from suffering.

Just to be alive is enough.

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

Those who understand interdependent origination understand suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

The willingness to empty ourselves and then seek our true nature is an expression of great and courageous love.

Change is the nature of every phenomenon. Accept this truth and you will live a happy life.

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

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.

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

The nature of life is change. The nature of change is painful. The nature of pain is temporary.

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

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

Our basic nature is pure awareness that simply cognizes experience. Everything else is temporary and adventitious.

Buddhas and ordinary beings are not two. Enlightenment and delusion are not different paths.

The root of all suffering is ignorance. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom that realizes emptiness.

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

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.

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

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The nature of everything is empty and clear, and the mind is beyond both existence and nonexistence.

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

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

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

Real freedom is not about controlling our experience, but about being free within our experience.

The menu is not the meal.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Trees, mountains, and vines all exist in nature according to their own truth. They are born and die following their nature. They remain this way because that's what they are. They don't practice meditation or do anything special.

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

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.

True happiness is not about getting rid of all our problems, but about changing our relationship to them.

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

The root of suffering is attachment.

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

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

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

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

Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

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

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