Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?

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

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

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

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Intrinsically all living beings are Buddhas, just as ice and water are of the same substance.

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

Whatever precious jewel there is in the heavenly worlds, there is nothing comparable to one who is awakened.

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

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

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

In the beginning, nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.

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.

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.

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

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

The mind is intrinsically empty. It's empty of all that we perceive as being intrinsically "me" and "mine."

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

True happiness is not found through the multiplication of desires but through their simplification.

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

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

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.

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

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

Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

The purpose of life is to be happy, to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is not to be well known, cited, or powerful.

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

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

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

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

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

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

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

The three characteristics - impermanence, suffering, and non-self - are not philosophical concepts but aspects of experience to be directly observed.

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

The practice of ethics is not about following rules but about developing inner purity and freedom.

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

The nature of everything is empty and clear, and the mind is beyond both existence and nonexistence.

The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

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.

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.

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

Buddhas and ordinary beings are not two. Enlightenment and delusion are not different paths.

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

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

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

If you want to know your past life, look at your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.

Real peace comes from seeing things as they really are, not as we want them to be.