Every step on the path must be with the understanding of anicca - impermanence. This is the essence of the teaching.

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

There are many ways to meditate. But at the heart of them all is mindfulness.

The entire path is a path of self-responsibility. Nobody else can walk it for you.

The first step toward faith is to admit that we don't know everything.

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

The only way to fail at meditation is to stop doing it.

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

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.

The most profound meditation is to think nothing at all.

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

The Buddha's teachings are not about abandoning our lives but about bringing the fullness of our attention to our lives.

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

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

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

The cave I live in is empty and so is my mind. I live simply and at ease.

The essence of meditation is not something complicated or exotic. It is simply taking a break from our habitual patterns.

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 dharma is not outside of you. Looking for it elsewhere is like placing a Buddha on your head while searching for him everywhere else.

Meditation is not about escaping from difficulty but about meeting it with awareness.

The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.

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

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

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

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake up and become aware. It does not teach, it points.

The view is like a lion - it cannot be led around by anything else. Meditation is like an eagle - it cannot be distracted by anything else. Action is like a madman - it is free from accepting and rejecting.

Mindfulness is being aware of what's going on, not trying to control what's going on.

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.

Compassion is a verb.

Meditation is not about getting away from it all. It's about getting into it all.

Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.

Time passes unhindered. When we make ourselves better, we make the world better.

The silence between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

Mindfulness is the quality and power of mind that is aware of what's happening—without judgment and without interference.

Every moment of confusion is also a moment of wisdom, if we can learn to recognize it.

Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life, even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all beings.

The practice of Dharma is a constant battle within oneself.

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

The essence of Buddhist practice is to reduce our selfishness and to work for the benefit of others.

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

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

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

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.

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

Meditation is not an escape from life but a way to fully engage with life.

Try to be mindful and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool.

The stages of insight unfold naturally when mindfulness is continuous. There is no need to desire them or try to make them happen.

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

My religion is to live and die without regret.

When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength.

Compassion is not mere sentiment but a powerful force that can transform both ourselves and others.

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

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

Maintain the state of undistractedness and distractions will fly away.

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.

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

The purpose of meditation is not to create a mental vacuum but to come to know one's own mind.

Just know what is happening in your mind - not happy or sad about it, not attached. If you suffer, see it, know it, be empty.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy. This is the goal of Buddhist practice.