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

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

There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.

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

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

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

For whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible. For whom emptiness is not possible, nothing is possible.

The instant you speak about a thing, you miss the mark.

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

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

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

Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead, it's about becoming more fully human.

In the moment of pure noting, there is no self - only the knowing and the known.

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

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

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

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

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

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

The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.

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

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

Don't be a bodhisatta; don't be an arahant; don't be anything at all. Being something makes you suffer.

The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

The water in the ocean can be rough or calm. It can be clear or murky. But the water itself doesn't mind.

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

Buddhas and ordinary beings are not two. Enlightenment and delusion are not different paths.

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.

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

Life is available only in the present moment.

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

Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.

The only things that are truly mine are my actions and their results.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

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.

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

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

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

The secret of happiness is to want what you already have.

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

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

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

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

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

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

Love is the wish that others be happy, and compassion is the wish that they be free from suffering.

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

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

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