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

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

Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we're holding back.

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

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

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

Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature.

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

The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind.

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

Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.

Meditation is not about trying to change ourselves. Meditation is about being aware of what is.

Mindfulness isn't difficult, we just need to remember to do it.

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

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

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

Whatever we do, we should see ourselves. Reading books doesn't show us our defilements. Watch yourself. Watch your mind.

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

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

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

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

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

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

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

The most important thing in life is to know death is coming and to prepare for it.

Just observe whatever arises. Don't try to create anything, and don't reject anything.

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

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

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

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

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

The practice is not about achieving special states but about seeing ordinary experience with extraordinary clarity.

Where there is great doubt, there is great awakening; small doubt, small awakening; no doubt, no awakening.

Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. Let him find pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good.

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.

The Noble Eightfold Path is not a path of mere intellectual understanding but a path of practice, of inner transformation.

Start from where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

Compassion is not just about being kind to others. It's about being kind to ourselves as well.

If you want to understand suffering, you must look into the situation at hand. The teachings say that wherever a problem arises it must be settled right there.

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

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

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

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

Mindfulness is being aware of what is happening right now, without wishing it were different.

The key to transformation is not to fight with our experience but to open to it with awareness.

Don't be afraid of the future. The future is good.

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 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.

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

Faith is the firm foundation, diligence the supporting pillar, and wisdom the roof of the house of practice.

As a flower that is lovely and beautiful, but is scentless, even so fruitless is the well-spoken word of one who does not practice it.

Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.

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

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

Right practice is steady practice. Whether you feel lazy or diligent, just keep practicing.

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

The practice of Dharma is a constant battle within oneself.

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

The most profound meditation is to think nothing at all.

The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities.