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

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

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

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

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

The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

The biggest prison is the one we build in our own mind.

The path to liberation requires both understanding and practice, both pariyatti and patipatti.

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

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.

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

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

We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree.

Don't be a bodhisatta; don't be an arahant; don't be anything at all. Being something makes you suffer.

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

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

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

By understanding emptiness, one understands all phenomena. Without understanding emptiness, one understands nothing.

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

The willingness to empty ourselves and then seek our true nature is an expression of great and courageous love.

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

When we understand that peace is not dependent on external conditions, we can find it in the midst of any circumstance.

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

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

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

The purpose of meditation is to gain right understanding of the true nature of mental and physical phenomena.

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

Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope - a slight change, and all patterns alter.

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

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

The nature of mind is not something we need to achieve - it's something we need to recognize.

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

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

If I had any position, I would thereby have a flaw. But since I have no position, I alone am without flaw.

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

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When mindfulness becomes continuous, the distinction between the observer and the observed begins to break down.

Life is like a cup of tea. It's all in how you make it.

Your own treasure house contains everything you need; why search outside?

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

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

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

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.

Suffering comes from our resistance to what is. Peace comes from our acceptance of what is.

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.

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