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

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

True happiness is born of letting go of what is unnecessary.

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

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

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

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.

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

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

When we know the truth, we become people who don't have to think much, we become people with wisdom.

The person who clings to nothing of the past, present and future, who has no attachment and no aversion, has no conceptual imprints.

The nature of the mind is like the sky, and our thoughts, emotions, and experiences are like clouds passing through it.

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

This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

Life is available only in the present moment.

The world is its own magic.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

Those who understand interdependent origination understand suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

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

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

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

Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher.

People who study a lot but don't practice are like a ladle in a soup pot. It's in the soup every day, but it doesn't know the taste of the soup.

The secret of happiness is to want what you already have.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Real peace comes from seeing things as they really are, not as we want them to be.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

True happiness is not found through the multiplication of desires but through their simplification.

Enlightenment is not about becoming something special, but about realizing what we already are.

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

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

The Buddha and all sentient beings are nothing but expressions of the one mind. There is nothing else.

Right View is not just a matter of intellectual understanding but of seeing things as they really are.

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

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

Buddhas and ordinary beings are not two. Enlightenment and delusion are not different paths.

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

Altruism is not a luxury, it is a necessity for the survival of humanity.