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

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

Change is possible because there is nothing inherently permanent about our disturbing emotions.

Real happiness lies within. It cannot be found in external objects or achievements.

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

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

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

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

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

To live fully is to let go and die with each step.

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

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

Happiness is found in the simplest of things. It is not in the things you own, but in the love you share.

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.

Wherever you are, you are one with the clouds and one with the sun and the stars you see. You are one with everything. That is more true than I can say, and more true than you can hear.

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

When one sees with wisdom that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, one is liberated from suffering.

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

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

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.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophy or a religion; it is a method of practice.

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

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

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.

The first noble truth of the Buddha is that life contains suffering. The second noble truth is that the cause of suffering is craving.

Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.

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

The knowledge of dissolution comes when you see both the noting mind and noted object dissolving together.

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

The deepest happiness comes from having an enduring sense of purpose, one that gives our lives meaning beyond the endless pursuit of pleasure and success.

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

Impermanence, suffering, and non-self are not philosophical concepts but realities to be directly perceived through mindfulness practice.

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

The Noble Eightfold Path is not a path of mere intellectual understanding but a path of practice, of inner transformation.

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

External phenomena are like a dream, whatever appears is not real. Recognize the nature of dream-like phenomena to be dream-like.

All experiences are preceded by mind, having mind as their master, created by mind.

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

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

The key to the Buddha's teaching is not grasping, not trying to hold onto things that are essentially impermanent and unstable.

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

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

The victorious ones have said that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incurable.

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

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

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

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

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

The more we understand impermanence, the more we understand that we can't hold on to anything.

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

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.

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

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

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

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

True peace is found not in the absence of experience but in the clear seeing of all experience.

The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech.

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

The path of practice moves from faith through understanding to direct realization.

The willingness to empty ourselves and then seek our true nature is an expression of great and courageous love.