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

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

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

Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.

When you recognize that pain and suffering are impermanent, you become free.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Buddha's teachings are not a religion, but a science of mind.

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

The essence of mind is empty like space; yet it contains all things, like a mirror.

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

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

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

Everybody has the light of Buddha within, but they don't look for it.

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

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.

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

The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transiency, or change.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

The path is not about moving from one place to another. It's about recognizing where we already are.

Life is available only in the present moment.

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

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

The menu is not the meal.

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

Few among men are they who cross to the further shore. The others merely run up and down the bank on this side.

If you want to know your past life, look at your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

The path to liberation requires both individual effort and the support of the spiritual community.

The nature of everything is illusory and ephemeral, those with dualistic perception regard suffering as happiness, like they who lick the honey from a razor's edge.

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

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

By understanding emptiness, one understands all phenomena. Without understanding emptiness, one understands nothing.

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

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

Birth and death are neither two things nor one thing. Life is not an appearance, death is not a disappearance.

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

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

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.

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

The time of the past becomes the present, the time of the present becomes the future, the time of the future becomes the present, and the time of the present becomes the past.

Trees, mountains, and vines all exist in nature according to their own truth. They are born and die following their nature. They remain this way because that's what they are. They don't practice meditation or do anything special.

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

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

True happiness is not about getting rid of all our problems, but about changing our relationship to them.

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

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