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.

The world is its own magic.

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

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

The most important factor in achieving happiness is the mind. Happiness and suffering are mental states and therefore depend on the mind.

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

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.

Neither from itself nor from another, nor from both, nor without a cause, does anything whatever, anywhere arise.

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

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

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

The path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.

The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transiency, or change.

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

All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha.

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

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

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

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

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

The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel.

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

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

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

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

The instant you speak about a thing, you miss the mark.

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.

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

The Buddha's teaching is not about belief but about investigation, not about accepting but about examining.

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

The way we look at the world is the way the world looks.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Happiness is not about getting what you want, but wanting what you've got.

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

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

The Buddha's teaching challenges us to master the art of living, to live in a way that leads to the extinction of suffering.

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.

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

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

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

The more we understand our mind, the more we understand the world.

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

Right View is not just a matter of intellectual understanding but of seeing things as they really are.

The root of suffering is not in the world outside us but in our own minds.

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

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

To see the truth, do not be for or against. The struggle between for and against is the mind's worst disease.

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.

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

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.

The nature of life is change. The nature of change is painful. The nature of pain is temporary.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

Suffering is not the end of the story; it is the middle of the story.

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

Emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite possibilities.