Intrinsically all living beings are Buddhas, just as ice and water are of the same substance.

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

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

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

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

True freedom is a freedom from the tyranny of our own thoughts and afflictive emotions.

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

The Four Noble Truths are not mere doctrinal propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our lives.

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

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

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

The nature of mind is the unity of awareness and emptiness.

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

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

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

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

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

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

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

The deepest form of happiness comes from discovering the natural peace of our own awareness.

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

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

What we learn about the world is colored by the way we approach it.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

The Noble Eightfold Path is not a path of mere intellectual understanding but a path of practice, of inner transformation.

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 mind is the source of all happiness and the source of all suffering.

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

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

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

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophy or a religion; it is a method of practice.

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

Those who grasp at things as truly existent are like someone trying to catch the reflection of the moon in water.

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

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.

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

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

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

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

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.

True happiness is not found through the multiplication of desires but through their simplification.

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

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

All that appears and exists, all of samsara and nirvana, has one ground, two paths, and two results. This is the magical display of awareness and unawareness.

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

Happiness is not the pursuit of an endless succession of experiences but an attitude toward life.

The willingness to empty ourselves and then seek our true nature is an expression of great and courageous love.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

The past is just a memory. The future is just a dream. Be here now.