The mind is the forerunner of all things. Our present life is the result of our past thoughts, and our future life will be the result of our present thoughts.

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

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

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

The practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

The more we understand impermanence, the more we appreciate each moment of our lives.

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.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

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

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

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.

Love is the wish that others be happy, and compassion is the wish that they be free from suffering.

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.

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

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

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

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

The ultimate revolution is the spiritual revolution, where we learn to see reality as it truly is.

The quality of every moment depends on the state of our minds.

Life is available only in the present moment.

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

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

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

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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.

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

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

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

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

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

The instant you speak about a thing, you miss the mark.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Zen is not necessarily against words, but it is well aware of their limitations.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Just as the wise do not take a mirage to be water, nor an echo to be a voice, so the enlightened do not take the world to be real.

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

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

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

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

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

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

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

The Four Noble Truths are not merely theoretical propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our experience.

The world is its own magic.

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

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

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