Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

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

The spiritual journey begins with the recognition that beneath our surface happiness there lies a deep inner pain.

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

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

Right View is not just a matter of intellectual understanding but of seeing things as they really are.

When one sees with wisdom that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, one is liberated from suffering.

If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look into your present actions.

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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

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.

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher.

Your own treasure house contains everything you need; why search outside?

The root of suffering is attachment.

The one who grasps at existence suffers in samsara, while the one who grasps at non-existence will find no liberation.

Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves.

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

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

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

Happiness is not about getting what you want, but wanting what you've got.

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

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

Whatever is dependently co-arisen, that is explained to be emptiness. That, being a dependent designation, is itself the middle way.

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

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

To live is enough.

The knowledge of dissolution comes when you see both the noting mind and noted object dissolving together.

The ultimate purpose of Buddhism is to serve and benefit humanity.

Through continuous mindfulness practice, the true nature of physical and mental phenomena becomes clear.

True happiness is born of letting go of what is unnecessary.

Suffering is not the end of the story; it is the middle of the story.

The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech.

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

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

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

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

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

The biggest prison is the one we build in our own mind.

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

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

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.

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

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.

Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway.

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

The purpose of Buddhist practice is not to become a Buddhist but to awaken to the nature of reality.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

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

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