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.

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

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

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

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

The mind is like water. When it's turbulent, it's difficult to see. When it's calm, everything becomes clear.

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

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

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

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

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

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

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

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

The Dhamma is not a collection of doctrinal formulas but a path leading to direct insight into the nature of reality.

The Dhamma unfolds in accordance with a definite sequence: faith, virtue, learning, generosity, wisdom, and insight.

Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead, it's about becoming more fully human.

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

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

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

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.

The ultimate revolution is the spiritual revolution, where we learn to see reality as it truly is.

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

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

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

Appearances are mind, mind itself is emptiness, emptiness itself is spontaneous presence.

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

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.

To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.

What we learn about the world is colored by the way we approach it.

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

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

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

Both formerly and now, it is only suffering that I describe, and the cessation of suffering.

The goal of Buddhist practice is not to escape from the world but to transform our relationship with it.

When you recognize that pain and suffering are impermanent, you become free.

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

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

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.

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?

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

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

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.

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

Birth and death are neither two things nor one thing. Life is not an appearance, death is not a disappearance.

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

If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look into your present actions.

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

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy. This is the goal of Buddhist practice.

Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.

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.

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.

Past thoughts are traceless, clear, and empty. Future thoughts are unborn and fresh. The present moment abides naturally and unconstructed.

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

The more you understand impermanence, the more you appreciate every moment.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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.