The practice of meditation requires both energy and patience, both effort and relaxation.

The goal of meditation is not to achieve a blank mind, but to gain insight into the nature of mind itself.

Each moment of mindfulness is a moment of purification.

The development of insight is gradual, but the realization of truth is sudden.

It is never too late to turn on the light.

We practice to learn how to let go, not how to increase our holding on to things.

Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks.

The greatest obstacle to meditation is our expectation about what it should be.

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.

The path is the goal. Every step of the journey is the journey.

The measure of success in spiritual life is how peaceful you are.

Vipassana is the art of living. Not the art of escaping.

Face your own anger and you will be free from anger. Face your own fears and you will be free from fear.

The dharma is not about collecting more beliefs but about becoming free from the power of belief itself.

When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.

The essence of Buddhism is not a belief system but a systematic investigation of our experience.

Zen proposes its solution by directly appealing to facts of personal experience and not to book-knowledge.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

Personal experience is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

We need the courage to learn from our experience and the wisdom to be willing to change and grow.

Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already.

Meditation is not about trying to change your experience; it's about changing your relationship to your experience.

Hope and fear come from feeling that we lack something; they come from a sense of poverty. We can't simply relax with ourselves. We hold on to hope, and hope robs us of the present moment.

The snow lion stays in the mountains, and the snow lion's ways are the snow lion's ways.

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything.

The way to change others' minds is with affection, and not anger.

The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought.

When you note effectively, there is no time for defilements to arise. The mind becomes pure through noting.

Each moment of noting is a moment of purification, a moment of cultivating the path.

Anxiety and excitement are the same emotion. The only difference is our attitude toward the experience.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

The practice is simply this: keep coming back to your breath during the day. This will give your mind a steadiness and your life a balance.

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

As surely as there is a voyage away, there is a journey home.

Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.

May all beings be happy, be peaceful, be liberated.

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.

The practice of meditation is not about achieving states of bliss but about seeing things as they really are.

Mind training is based on the idea that two opposite mental factors cannot happen at the same time.

You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can't solve your own doubts. Investigate yourself to find the truth - inside, not outside.

Should you desire the great tranquility, prepare to sweat white beads.

The movement of love is what creates the beauty in our lives.

Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.

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

The only way to experience truth is to look within, to observe oneself.

The moment you note a thought, it disappears. The noting mind keeps the hindrances away.

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

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.

The heart of one who practices is like the earth. No matter what they throw on it, the earth remains unchanged.

The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your two feet.

We need to learn to let our emotions pass through us like waves, without getting caught in their undertow.

Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.

The dharma is not in the books. If you want to find the dharma, look in your mind.

The practice of meditation is like tuning an instrument. Too tight, and the strings break. Too loose, and they won't play.

The practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

Observe the reality as it is, not as you wish it to be.

The door of your heart can only be opened from the inside.

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.