Past thoughts are traceless, clear, and empty. Future thoughts are unborn and fresh. The present moment abides naturally and unconstructed.

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

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

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

The law of nature is the law of cause and effect. As you sow, so shall you reap.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

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

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

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

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

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

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.

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

My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantabhadri. I belong to the caste of non-duality of these two.

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

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

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

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

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

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

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

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope - a slight change, and all patterns alter.

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

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

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

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

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

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

This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

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

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

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

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

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

The six realms of existence are like a dream, why build a prison for yourself?

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

The nature of everything is empty and clear, and the mind is beyond both existence and nonexistence.

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

The root of all suffering is ignorance. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom that realizes emptiness.

Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, so also this teaching and discipline has one taste, the taste of liberation.

The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.

The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.

Wisdom arises when you see the true characteristics of phenomena through direct experience.

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

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

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

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

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.

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

Just to be alive is enough.