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

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

If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence.

The great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

Metta (loving-kindness) becomes truly effective only when it arises from a peaceful mind, a pure mind, a balanced mind.

Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

Our true nature is like a diamond - pure, brilliant, and indestructible. No matter how much dirt covers it, its essential nature remains unchanged.

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

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

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.

Liberation is found in the practice, not in the theory.

There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen. Even though you read much Zen literature, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind.

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

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.

The more precisely you note, the more clearly you understand. The more clearly you understand, the stronger your insight becomes.

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes.

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

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.

The mind is like a wild monkey, jumping here and there. But through meditation, we learn to see whatever arises in our mind with more spaciousness and clarity.

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

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

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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.

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.

There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way.

Mindfulness means keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality.

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.

Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.

The mind is like a room with many windows. Open them all and let the fresh air in.

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 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.

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

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

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

The practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.

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

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

A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.

When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love.

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

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

External seeking only leads to exhaustion. When you imitate others, you lose your own authenticity.

The path to liberation is a gradual path of self-discipline, self-development, and self-transformation.

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

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

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

When things fall apart and we're on the verge of we know not what, the test of each of us is to stay on that brink and not concretize.

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

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

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

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

Generosity generates its own enthusiasm. We don't have to force ourselves to be generous; we just need to start.

Kindness is the solution to all of life's problems.

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

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

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophy or a religion; it is a method of practice.

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