In the spiritual world there are no time divisions such as the past, present and future; for they have contracted themselves into a single moment of the present where life quivers in its true sense.

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

Since all things are empty of inherent existence, anything is possible. If things had inherent existence, nothing would be possible.

Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

The truth of suffering is not to be feared but to be understood through direct observation.

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

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

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

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

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 deepest form of happiness comes from discovering the natural peace of our own awareness.

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

Although all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, they function perfectly well.

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

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

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

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

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

The more you understand impermanence, the more you appreciate every moment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Suffering is not the end of the story; it is the middle of the story.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

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

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

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

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

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

Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.

Both formerly and now, it is only suffering that I describe, and the cessation of suffering.

The past is just a memory. The future is just a dream. Be here now.

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

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

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.

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

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.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophy or a religion; it is a method of practice.

The Buddha and all sentient beings are nothing but expressions of the one mind. There is nothing else.

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

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

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

The nature of everything is illusory and ephemeral, those with dualistic perception regard suffering as happiness, like they who lick the honey from a razor's edge.

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

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

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, wisdom arises naturally as we open our hearts to the truth of what is.

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

The nature of mind is the unity of awareness and emptiness.

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