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

The menu is not the meal.

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

My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantabhadri. I belong to the caste of non-duality of these two.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The nature of all things is like a magical illusion, a mirage, a dream, a reflection of the moon in water.

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.

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

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

All experiences are preceded by mind, having mind as their master, created by mind.

Trees, mountains, and vines all exist in nature according to their own truth. They are born and die following their nature. They remain this way because that's what they are. They don't practice meditation or do anything special.

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

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

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

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

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

The only things that are truly mine are my actions and their results.

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

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

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

The one who grasps at existence suffers in samsara, while the one who grasps at non-existence will find no liberation.

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

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

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

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

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

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

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

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

The Buddha's path is not about becoming somebody different but about becoming more and more who you really are.

The Dhamma is not a collection of doctrinal formulas but a path leading to direct insight into the nature of reality.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

The Four Noble Truths are not merely theoretical propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our experience.

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

Birth and death are neither two things nor one thing. Life is not an appearance, death is not a disappearance.

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

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

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

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

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

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

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

The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.

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

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

Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, so also this teaching and discipline has one taste, the taste of liberation.

Dependent origination is not a theory about the origin of the world but a teaching that shows how suffering originates in dependence on our own mental processes.

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

Life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink.