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

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

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

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

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

Suffering is not the end of the story; it is the middle of the story.

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

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

Loving-kindness is not something we need to manufacture. It's a natural expression of our awakened nature.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

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

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

Zen is not necessarily against words, but it is well aware of their limitations.

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

The past is just a memory. The future is just a dream. Be here now.

The world is its own magic.

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

The eye with which I see Buddha is the same eye with which Buddha sees me.

The nature of all things is like a magical illusion, a mirage, a dream, a reflection of the moon in water.

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

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

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

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

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.

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

The ultimate revolution is the spiritual revolution, where we learn to see reality as it truly is.

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

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

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

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

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

Just as the wise do not take a mirage to be water, nor an echo to be a voice, so the enlightened do not take the world to be real.

When the iron bird flies and horses run on wheels, the Tibetan people will be scattered like ants across the face of the earth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana. There is no difference at all between nirvana and samsara.

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

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

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.

To see nothing is to perceive the Way, and to understand nothing is to know the Dharma.

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

For whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible. For whom emptiness is not possible, nothing is possible.

In the moment of pure noting, there is no self - only the knowing and the known.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

The purpose of Buddhist practice is not to become a Buddhist but to awaken to the nature of reality.

To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.

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

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 mind is like water. When it's turbulent, it's difficult to see. When it's calm, everything becomes clear.

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature.

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