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

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

The nature of everything is empty and clear, and the mind is beyond both existence and nonexistence.

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

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

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

Through continuous mindfulness practice, the true nature of physical and mental phenomena becomes clear.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana. There is no difference at all between nirvana and samsara.

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

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

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

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

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

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

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

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

Real happiness lies within. It cannot be found in external objects or achievements.

Like a dream, like an illusion, like a city of gandharvas, that's how birth, and that's how living, that's how dying are taught to be.

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

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

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

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

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

Enlightenment is the realization that we were never really separate from one another or from all of life.

Whatever precious jewel there is in the heavenly worlds, there is nothing comparable to one who is awakened.

The Noble Eightfold Path is not a path of mere intellectual understanding but a path of practice, of inner transformation.

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

To live is enough.

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

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

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

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

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.

The five aggregates are not a theoretical model but a description of lived experience to be investigated through mindfulness.

The ocean does not reject any water; therefore it is great. The mountain does not select its stones; therefore it is great.

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

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

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

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.

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

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

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

The lamp of wisdom burns constantly, illuminating the nature of mind.

The goal of the Buddhist path is not to add something to our existence but to discover something that has been there all along.

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.

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

The Buddha taught us to leave alone the things that don't lead to awakening.

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

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

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

The dharma wheel turns from the beginning. There is neither excess nor deficiency. The whole universe is moistened with nectar, and the truth is ready to harvest.