The world is its own magic.

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

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

The essence of mind is empty like space; yet it contains all things, like a mirror.

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.

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

The biggest prison is the one we build in our own mind.

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

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

The Buddha's teachings are not a religion, but a science of mind.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.

The root of suffering is attachment.

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

The victorious ones have said that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incurable.

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

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

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

The instant you speak about a thing, you miss the mark.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

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

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

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

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

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

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

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

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

By understanding emptiness, one understands all phenomena. Without understanding emptiness, one understands nothing.

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

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

Just as the wise do not take a mirage to be water, nor an echo to be a voice, so the enlightened do not take the world to be real.

The path of awakening is not about becoming who we think we should be, but about unbecoming who we are not.

The more you understand, the more you love; the more you love, the more you understand.

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

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

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

The time of the past becomes the present, the time of the present becomes the future, the time of the future becomes the present, and the time of the present becomes the past.

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.

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.

Don't try to push away the darkness. Just light a lamp. The darkness will disappear by itself.

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

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

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

The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.

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

When you understand that all phenomena are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self, attachment naturally falls away.

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

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

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

The nature of mind is not something we need to achieve - it's something we need to recognize.

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

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

The eye with which I see Buddha is the same eye with which Buddha sees me.

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

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.