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.

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

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

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

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

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

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

Karma is not fate but the law of moral causation, showing us that we are the architects of our own destiny.

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.

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

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

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

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

When one sees with wisdom that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, one is liberated from suffering.

The way is basically perfect. It is not a matter of practice or enlightenment.

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

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 experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

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

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

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

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.

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

Emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite possibilities.

The ultimate revolution is the spiritual revolution, where we learn to see reality as it truly is.

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

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.

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

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

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

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.

What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.

Recognize the emptiness of all phenomena, but do not become attached to emptiness itself.

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

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

The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma - the way to liberation - which is universal.

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?

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

To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.

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

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

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

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

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

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

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

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

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

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.