When the iron bird flies and horses run on wheels, the Tibetan people will be scattered like ants across the face of the earth.

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

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.

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

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

Real freedom is not about controlling our experience, but about being free within our experience.

The ultimate purpose of Buddhism is to serve and benefit humanity.

To see nothing is to perceive the Way, and to understand nothing is to know the Dharma.

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

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

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

Change is the nature of every phenomenon. Accept this truth and you will live a happy life.

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

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

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

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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

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

Wisdom arises when you see the true characteristics of phenomena through direct experience.

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

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

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

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.

The path to liberation requires both individual effort and the support of the spiritual community.

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

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

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

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

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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

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

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

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

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

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 path is not about becoming somebody different but about becoming more and more who you really are.

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

Happiness is not about getting what you want, but wanting what you've got.

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

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

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

The mind is the forerunner of all things. Our present life is the result of our past thoughts, and our future life will be the result of our present thoughts.

When you realize the emptiness of all phenomena, compassion will arise in your heart for all sentient beings who do not understand this truth.

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

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

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

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

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

The first noble truth of the Buddha is that life contains suffering. The second noble truth is that the cause of suffering is craving.

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

The mind is the source of all happiness and the source of all suffering.

The farther you enter into truth, the deeper it is.

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

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