The purpose of our lives is to be happy, and happiness is found in benefiting others.

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

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.

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

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

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

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

Life is available only in the present moment.

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

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.

If you want to know the past, look at the present. If you want to know the future, look at the present.

Appearances are mind, mind itself is emptiness, emptiness itself is spontaneous presence.

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.

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

Your own treasure house contains everything you need; why search outside?

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

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

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

The essence of the spiritual journey is the uncovering of what is always already present.

The path to liberation requires both individual effort and the support of the spiritual community.

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

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.

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

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

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

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

Not knowing how near the truth is, we seek it far away.

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

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

Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.

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

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

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

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

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

The mind of the past is ungraspable; the mind of the future is ungraspable; the mind of the present is ungraspable.

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

The Buddha taught that wealth does not bring happiness and security. The pursuit of wealth is a matter of living in balance.

The nature of mind is like a mirror. It is not affected by whatever appears in it, yet it never fails to reflect everything perfectly.

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

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

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

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

When the iron bird flies and horses run on wheels, the Tibetan people will be scattered like ants across the face of the earth.

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

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

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

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

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

The practice of ethics is not about following rules but about developing inner purity and freedom.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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

All that appears and exists, all of samsara and nirvana, has one ground, two paths, and two results. This is the magical display of awareness and unawareness.

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

Craving and aversion are the roots of suffering. Observe them with equanimity.

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

To see the truth, do not be for or against. The struggle between for and against is the mind's worst disease.

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

The highest truth cannot be taught except through the conventional truth.