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 mind is like water. When it's turbulent, it's difficult to see. When it's calm, everything becomes clear.

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

The realization of impermanence leads not to despair but to a deeper appreciation of the preciousness of each moment.

The only things that are truly mine are my actions and their results.

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

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

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

The goal of the Buddhist path is not to add something to our existence but to discover something that has been there all along.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

External phenomena are like a dream, whatever appears is not real. Recognize the nature of dream-like phenomena to be dream-like.

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.

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

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

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

Our basic nature is pure awareness that simply cognizes experience. Everything else is temporary and adventitious.

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

Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature.

The menu is not the meal.

The five aggregates are not a theoretical model but a description of lived experience to be investigated through mindfulness.

The purpose of Buddhist practice is not to become a Buddhist but to awaken to the nature of reality.

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

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

Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.

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 Dhamma unfolds in accordance with a definite sequence: faith, virtue, learning, generosity, wisdom, and insight.

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

Life is like a cup of tea. It's all in how you make it.

Each moment of clear seeing is a moment of freedom from the illusion of permanence, satisfaction, and self.

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

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

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

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

The deepest happiness comes from having an enduring sense of purpose, one that gives our lives meaning beyond the endless pursuit of pleasure and success.

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

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

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

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.

Trees, mountains, and vines all exist in nature according to their own truth. They are born and die following their nature. They remain this way because that's what they are. They don't practice meditation or do anything special.

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

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

The ultimate purpose of Buddhism is to serve and benefit humanity.

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

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

If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look into your present actions.

Birth and death are neither two things nor one thing. Life is not an appearance, death is not a disappearance.

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

The path to liberation is through understanding the true nature of mind and matter through direct observation.

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 secret of happiness lies not in getting what we want, but in learning to want what we already have.

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

The mind is intrinsically empty. It's empty of all that we perceive as being intrinsically "me" and "mine."