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.

Altruism is not a luxury, it is a necessity for the survival of humanity.

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

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

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

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

In the spiritual world there are no time divisions such as the past, present and future; for they have contracted themselves into a single moment of the present where life quivers in its true sense.

The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

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

The world is its own magic.

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

The way is basically perfect. It is not a matter of practice or enlightenment.

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

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

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If I had any position, I would thereby have a flaw. But since I have no position, I alone am without flaw.

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

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

This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

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

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

Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, wisdom arises naturally as we open our hearts to the truth of what is.

Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher.

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

To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.

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

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

The farther you enter into truth, the deeper it is.

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 greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

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 fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma - the way to liberation - which is universal.

Like a dream, like an illusion, like a city of gandharvas, that's how birth, and that's how living, that's how dying are taught to be.

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.

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

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

The mind is the forerunner of all things. Our present life is the result of our past thoughts, and our future life will be the result of our present thoughts.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.