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

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

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

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

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

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.

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

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

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

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.

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

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

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

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

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

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

Whatever is dependently co-arisen, that is explained to be emptiness. That, being a dependent designation, is itself the middle way.

The deepest form of happiness comes from discovering the natural peace of our own awareness.

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

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

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

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

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

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

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

The purpose of our lives is to be happy, and happiness is found in benefiting others.

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

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

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

The quality of every moment depends on the state of our minds.

Enlightenment is not the end of change but the end of resistance to change.

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

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

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

The practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

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

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.

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

All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death.

Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.

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

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.

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

The essence of Buddhism is not a belief system but a systematic investigation of our experience.

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

There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.

The Buddha's teachings are not a religion, but a science of mind.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

The highest truth cannot be taught except through the conventional truth.

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

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

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

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.

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

In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we possess.

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

Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves.

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.