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.

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

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

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

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

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

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

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

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

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

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.

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

The root of suffering is not in the world outside us but in our own minds.

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

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 mind that sees its own nature becomes free from all extremes.

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

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

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

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

The menu is not the meal.

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.

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

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

Enlightenment is not about becoming something special, but about realizing what we already are.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

When mindfulness becomes continuous, the distinction between the observer and the observed begins to break down.

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

True peace is found not in the absence of experience but in the clear seeing of all experience.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

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

The purpose of life is to be happy, to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is not to be well known, cited, or powerful.

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

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

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy. This is the goal of Buddhist practice.

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

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we possess.

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

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

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

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

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

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.

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

Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the "support," of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached.

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

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

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

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

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

Just to be alive is enough.

Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.

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

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

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

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

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

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