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

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

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

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

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

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.

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

Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.

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

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

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

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

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

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

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

Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature.

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

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

The secret of happiness lies not in getting what we want, but in learning to want what we already have.

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

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

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

Every being has the potential of becoming a Buddha. Our true nature is Buddha nature.

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

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

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

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

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

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

The defilements of the mind are temporary visitors. Pure awareness is your true home.

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

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

If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look into your present actions.

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

Although all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, they function perfectly well.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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

Zen is not necessarily against words, but it is well aware of their limitations.

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

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

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

Each moment of clear seeing is a moment of freedom from the illusion of permanence, satisfaction, and self.

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

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

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

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

Past thoughts are traceless, clear, and empty. Future thoughts are unborn and fresh. The present moment abides naturally and unconstructed.

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.

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.

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