The water in the ocean can be rough or calm. It can be clear or murky. But the water itself doesn't mind.

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

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

Life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink.

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

The cultivation of loving-kindness is the thread that runs through all Buddhist teachings.

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

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.

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

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

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

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

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

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

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

Our true nature is like a diamond - pure, brilliant, and indestructible. No matter how much dirt covers it, its essential nature remains unchanged.

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

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

Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

The truth of suffering is not to be feared but to be understood through direct observation.

The Buddha taught that wealth does not bring happiness and security. The pursuit of wealth is a matter of living in balance.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

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

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

The menu is not the meal.

Every being has the potential of becoming a Buddha. Our true nature is Buddha nature.

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.

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

The lamp of wisdom burns constantly, illuminating the nature of mind.

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

Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway.

Birth and death are neither two things nor one thing. Life is not an appearance, death is not a disappearance.

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

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

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

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

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

Those who cling to perceptions and views wander the world offending people.

The Dhamma is not a collection of doctrinal formulas but a path leading to direct insight into the nature of reality.

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

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

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

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

If you want to know the past, look at the present. If you want to know the future, look at the present.

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

The person who clings to nothing of the past, present and future, who has no attachment and no aversion, has no conceptual imprints.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

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.