When we know the truth, we become people who don't have to think much, we become people with wisdom.

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

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

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 cultivation of loving-kindness is the thread that runs through all Buddhist teachings.

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

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

The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel.

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

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

If you want to know your past life, look at your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.

The purpose of meditation is to gain right understanding of the true nature of mental and physical phenomena.

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.

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

Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.

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

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

The path is not about moving from one place to another. It's about recognizing where we already are.

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

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

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

When we understand others, we understand ourselves. When we love others, we love ourselves.

To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.

Real happiness comes from having an unshakable connection to the deep wellspring of peace and happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.

Impermanence, suffering, and non-self are not philosophical concepts but realities to be directly perceived through mindfulness practice.

The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

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

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

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

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

When you recognize that pain and suffering are impermanent, you become free.

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

Peace is not found by changing the world, but by changing your attitude to the world.

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

All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha.

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

All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death.

The difference between buddhas and sentient beings is that buddhas recognize their nature while sentient beings fail to recognize it.

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The secret of happiness is to want what you already have.

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

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

True freedom is a freedom from the tyranny of our own thoughts and afflictive emotions.

Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves.

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

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

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.

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