The difference between buddhas and sentient beings is that buddhas recognize their nature while sentient beings fail to recognize it.

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

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

The time of the past becomes the present, the time of the present becomes the future, the time of the future becomes the present, and the time of the present becomes the past.

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

To see the truth, do not be for or against. The struggle between for and against is the mind's worst disease.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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

The world is its own magic.

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.

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

True freedom is a freedom from the tyranny of our own thoughts and afflictive emotions.

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

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

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

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.

The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transiency, or change.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Both formerly and now, it is only suffering that I describe, and the cessation of suffering.

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

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.

The essence of all phenomena is empty and clear like space. The nature of mind is awareness-emptiness like the sun and sky.

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

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

Your own treasure house contains everything you need; why search outside?

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

Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the "support," of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached.

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

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.

Everybody has the light of Buddha within, but they don't look for it.

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.

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The most important factor in achieving happiness is the mind. Happiness and suffering are mental states and therefore depend on the mind.

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

Emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite possibilities.