The world is its own magic.

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

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

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

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.

Karma is not fate but the law of moral causation, showing us that we are the architects of our own destiny.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink.

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

The only things that are truly mine are my actions and their results.

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

Loving-kindness is not something we need to manufacture. It's a natural expression of our awakened nature.

In the moment of pure noting, there is no self - only the knowing and the known.

Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The nature of mind is the unity of awareness and emptiness.

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

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

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

The time of the past becomes the present, the time of the present becomes the future, the time of the future becomes the present, and the time of the present becomes the past.

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

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

There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way.

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

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.

The victorious ones have said that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incurable.

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

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.

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

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

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

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

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

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

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

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

Real happiness comes from having an unshakable connection to the deep wellspring of peace and happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.

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

The essence of all phenomena is empty and clear like space. The nature of mind is awareness-emptiness like the sun and sky.

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

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

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

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