The teaching of the Buddha is based on two truths: conventional truth and ultimate truth. Without understanding the relationship between these two, the deeper meaning of the Buddha's teaching cannot be understood.

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

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.

Like a dream, like an illusion, like a city of gandharvas, that's how birth, and that's how living, that's how dying are taught to be.

When we understand others, we understand ourselves. When we love others, we love ourselves.

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

If you want to know your past life, look at your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.

The path of practice moves from faith through understanding to direct realization.

Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.

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

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.

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

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.

The essence of the teaching is emptiness and compassion. Without emptiness, compassion can become attachment. Without compassion, emptiness can become cold and distant.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

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 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.

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

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 root of suffering is attachment.

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.

The dharma wheel turns from the beginning. There is neither excess nor deficiency. The whole universe is moistened with nectar, and the truth is ready to harvest.

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

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

The nature of all things is like a magical illusion, a mirage, a dream, a reflection of the moon in water.

The Buddha's teaching is not about belief but about investigation, not about accepting but about examining.

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

Don't try to push away the darkness. Just light a lamp. The darkness will disappear by itself.

Enlightenment is not the end of change but the end of resistance to change.

Neither from itself nor from another, nor from both, nor without a cause, does anything whatever, anywhere arise.

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

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

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.

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

Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.

When we understand that peace is not dependent on external conditions, we can find it in the midst of any circumstance.

The nature of the mind is like the sky, and our thoughts, emotions, and experiences are like clouds passing through it.

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

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

The spiritual journey begins with the recognition that beneath our surface happiness there lies a deep inner pain.

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

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

The way we look at the world is the way the world looks.

The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

Life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

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

Karma is not fate but the law of moral causation, showing us that we are the architects of our own destiny.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.