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

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 path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

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

Not by hatred is hatred conquered, but by love alone. This is an eternal law.

The treasure house within you contains everything, and you are free to use it. You don't need to seek outside.

Happiness is a skill that can be developed like playing an instrument or learning to read.

The three characteristics - impermanence, suffering, and non-self - are not philosophical concepts but aspects of experience to be directly observed.

The highest mantra is to be without deception. The highest medicine is to have few desires. The highest meditation is not to be attached.

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

The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.

The four foundations of mindfulness are not separate practices but different aspects of the same practice of clear awareness.

Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.

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

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

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.

The more you give, the more you have. That's the economics of kindness.

Compassion is not something we develop. It arises naturally as we see the truth of what is.

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

To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.

The practice of mindfulness is simple: whatever you experience, you observe and note it.

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.

If you want to climb a mountain, begin at the top.

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

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

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

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

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

Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.

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

It is never too late to turn on the light.

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

The past is gone, the future is not yet here. Live in the present moment with awareness.

Life is nothing but a continuous chain of sensations. Pleasant or unpleasant, observe them objectively.

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

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

The highest truth cannot be taught except through the conventional truth.

In the moment of love, awareness is very strong. Use that awareness, that strength of consciousness, to look into yourself.

When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you intuit dharma intimately.

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.

Do everything with a mind that lets go. Don't accept praise or gain or anything else. If you let go a little, you will have a little peace; if you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.

The challenge in meditation is not to eliminate thinking but to understand the nature of thought itself.

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.

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

The trouble is, you think you have time.

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

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

The practice of mindfulness is simply to bring awareness to what we are doing, what we are saying, and what we are thinking.

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

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

The practice of ethics is not about following rules but about developing inner purity and freedom.

The goal of Buddhist practice is not to escape from the world but to transform our relationship with it.

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 Buddha taught that wealth does not bring happiness and security. The pursuit of wealth is a matter of living in balance.

Sticking with uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic—this is the spiritual path.

The Dhamma unfolds in accordance with a definite sequence: faith, virtue, learning, generosity, wisdom, and insight.

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.

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

Mindfulness is the key to the present moment. Without it we cannot see the world clearly, and we cannot make the wisest choices in our lives.