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

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

Those who understand interdependent origination understand suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

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

The essence of all phenomena is empty and clear like space. The nature of mind is awareness-emptiness like the sun and sky.

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

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

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

Craving and aversion are the roots of suffering. Observe them with equanimity.

True freedom is not the absence of commitment but the presence of choice.

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

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

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.

When one sees with wisdom that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, one is liberated from suffering.

Altruism is not a luxury, it is a necessity for the survival of humanity.

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

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

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

Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway.

In the beginning, nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The most important factor in achieving happiness is the mind. Happiness and suffering are mental states and therefore depend on the mind.

The root of suffering is attachment.

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

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

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

The path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.

Enlightenment is the realization that we were never really separate from one another or from all of life.

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

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

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

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

To live fully is to let go and die with each step.

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

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.

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

The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.

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

Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves.

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

The Buddha's path is not about becoming somebody different but about becoming more and more who you really are.

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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