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

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

When you understand that all phenomena are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self, attachment naturally falls away.

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

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

The mind of the past is ungraspable; the mind of the future is ungraspable; the mind of the present is ungraspable.

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

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

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.

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

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.

For whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible. For whom emptiness is not possible, nothing is possible.

The menu is not the meal.

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

My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantabhadri. I belong to the caste of non-duality of these two.

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.

Just as the wise do not take a mirage to be water, nor an echo to be a voice, so the enlightened do not take the world to be real.

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.

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

The path of awakening is not about becoming who we think we should be, but about unbecoming who we are not.

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

To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things.

The Four Noble Truths are not merely theoretical propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our experience.

Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

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

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

The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that's really swell.

The Four Noble Truths are not mere doctrinal propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our lives.

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

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

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.

Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.

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

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

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

The teaching of the Buddha is based on two truths: conventional truth and ultimate truth. Without understanding the relationship between these two, the deeper meaning of the Buddha's teaching cannot be understood.

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

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

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

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 only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

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

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

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

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

The Buddha's path is not about becoming somebody different but about becoming more and more who you really are.

The cultivation of loving-kindness is the thread that runs through all Buddhist teachings.

The world is its own magic.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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