The mind that notes and the object that is noted are both impermanent. Understanding this leads to liberation.

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

There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana. There is no difference at all between nirvana and samsara.

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

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

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

In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we possess.

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

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

The nature of life is change. The nature of change is painful. The nature of pain is temporary.

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

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

To live is enough.

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

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

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

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

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

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

The path of awakening is not about becoming who we think we should be, but about unbecoming who we are not.

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

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

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 experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

Life is available only in the present moment.

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.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

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

The realization of impermanence leads not to despair but to a deeper appreciation of the preciousness of each moment.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

Suffering comes from our resistance to what is. Peace comes from our acceptance of what is.

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

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

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

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

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

Happiness is found in the simplest of things. It is not in the things you own, but in the love you share.

Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the "support," of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached.

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

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

We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree.

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

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

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

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

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

Peace is not found by changing the world, but by changing your attitude to the world.

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

The person who clings to nothing of the past, present and future, who has no attachment and no aversion, has no conceptual imprints.

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

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

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