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

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

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

The six realms of existence are like a dream, why build a prison for yourself?

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

The more we understand impermanence, the more we appreciate each moment of our lives.

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.

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

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

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

The only things that are truly mine are my actions and their results.

When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

Life is available only in the present moment.

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

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Those who grasp at things as truly existent are like someone trying to catch the reflection of the moon in water.

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

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

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 understand others, we understand ourselves. When we love others, we love ourselves.

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.

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

If you want to know the past, look at the present. If you want to know the future, look at the present.

The path to liberation requires both understanding and practice, both pariyatti and patipatti.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

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

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 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.

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

Enlightenment is the realization that we were never really separate from one another or from all of life.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

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 real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.

What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.

The past is for learning from, not for living in.

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

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

The nature of the mind is like the sky, and our thoughts, emotions, and experiences are like clouds passing through it.

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

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

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

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

The mind is the source of all happiness and the source of all suffering.

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

When mindfulness becomes continuous, the distinction between the observer and the observed begins to break down.

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