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

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

Few among men are they who cross to the further shore. The others merely run up and down the bank on this side.

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.

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

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

When you realize the emptiness of all phenomena, compassion will arise in your heart for all sentient beings who do not understand this truth.

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

The essence of the teaching is emptiness and compassion. Without emptiness, compassion can become attachment. Without compassion, emptiness can become cold and distant.

Life is available only in the present moment.

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

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

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

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

The Buddha and all sentient beings are nothing but expressions of the one mind. There is nothing else.

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

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy. This is the goal of Buddhist practice.

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.

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

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

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

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

Karma is not fate but the law of moral causation, showing us that we are the architects of our own destiny.

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

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

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.

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.

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

Enlightenment is not the end of change but the end of resistance to change.

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.

All that appears and exists, all of samsara and nirvana, has one ground, two paths, and two results. This is the magical display of awareness and unawareness.

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

The practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

Don't try to push away the darkness. Just light a lamp. The darkness will disappear by itself.

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

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

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

The path to liberation is through understanding the true nature of mind and matter through direct observation.

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

The mind that notes and the object that is noted are both impermanent. Understanding this leads to liberation.

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

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

What Zen wants us to do is to acquire an entirely new point of view whereby to look into the mysteries of life and the secrets of nature.

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

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

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree.

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.

True freedom is not the absence of commitment but the presence of choice.

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