Be a lamp unto yourself. Work out your liberation with diligence.

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

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

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

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

The more you are motivated by love, the more fearless and free your actions will be.

The real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

The source of love is deep in us and we can help others realize a lot of happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person's suffering and bring that person joy.

Every moment of mindfulness is a step on the path to liberation. Each step is valuable, no matter how small.

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

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

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

Mindfulness is the gentle effort to be continuously present with experience.

The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.

The practitioner and practice are like fire and wood. The more you practice, the more you burn.

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

Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one's own acts, done and undone.

Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words are fruitless in a man who does not act in accordance with them.

Wisdom arises when you see the true characteristics of phenomena through direct experience.

Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.

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

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

The more clearly you see the arising and passing of phenomena, the less you will be attached to them.

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

The obstacle is the path.

In meditation, we're not trying to get rid of thoughts but to recognize their true nature.

Panic is a gateway to wisdom. When we learn to stay present with our panic, it becomes our teacher.

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.

The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. What seeds will you plant there?

Your mind is like a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

The precious pot containing my riches becomes my teacher in the very moment it breaks.

The way to change the world is to change your own mind.

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

What you are is what you have been. What you'll be is what you do now.

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look.

The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.

We deal with our mind from morning until evening, and it can be our best friend or our worst enemy.

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment.

The everyday practice is simply to develop complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions.

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense.

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced state of mind.

The true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.

Zazen is not step-by-step meditation. Rather it is simply the easy and pleasant practice of a Buddha, the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom.

The object of meditation and the mind which knows it must be noted as they occur. If they are not noted, desire arises and disturbs concentration.

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

The Noble Eightfold Path is a path of training: training in ethical conduct, training in mental discipline, and training in wisdom.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.

The development of wisdom requires both study and practice, both learning and direct experience.

Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.

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

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.

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

Meditation in the midst of activity is a thousand times superior to meditation in stillness.

The more you meditate, the more you understand yourself and the better friend you become to yourself.

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

Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking.