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

The more we understand impermanence, the more we understand that we can't hold on to anything.

Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.

Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.

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.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that's really swell.

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 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 mere doctrinal propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our lives.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy, and happiness is found in benefiting others.

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

When you realize the emptiness of all phenomena, compassion will arise in your heart for all sentient beings who do not understand this truth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha.

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

Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.

The first noble truth of the Buddha is that life contains suffering. The second noble truth is that the cause of suffering is craving.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

The nature of mind is like a mirror. It is not affected by whatever appears in it, yet it never fails to reflect everything perfectly.

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

Our basic nature is pure awareness that simply cognizes experience. Everything else is temporary and adventitious.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just to be alive is enough.

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

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

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

The way is basically perfect. It is not a matter of practice or enlightenment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

The root of suffering is attachment.