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

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

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

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

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

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

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

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

Each of you is perfect the way you are... and you can use a little improvement.

Mindfulness is the key to transformation. It enables us to see our experience as it really is, free from distortion and bias.

The more we witness our emotional reactions and understand how they work, the easier it is to refrain.

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

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

The Buddha taught us to leave alone the things that don't lead to awakening.

The practice of mindfulness transforms the mind from a place of suffering into an instrument of enlightenment.

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

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

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

Each moment of mindfulness is a moment of purification.

The deepest happiness comes from having an enduring sense of purpose, one that gives our lives meaning beyond the endless pursuit of pleasure and success.

When you note pain, you should not dwell on the thought, "I feel pain." Simply recognize the presence of pain.

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.

When we look directly at our thoughts, they dissolve like bubbles in water.

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

When walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble.

A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

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

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

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

The supreme path is not to fabricate anything. The supreme meditation is not to be distracted.

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

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

The Dhamma is not a collection of doctrinal formulas but a path leading to direct insight into the nature of reality.

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.

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

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

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

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

In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived, how well we have loved, how well we have learned to let go.

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

The trouble is, you think you have time.

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

The path to liberation requires both individual effort and the support of the spiritual community.

When dharma fills your body and mind, you realize that something is missing.

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

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

It is never too late to turn on the light.

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

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

The yogi's joy is in the solitude of mountains, where all distractions naturally dissolve into emptiness.

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.

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

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.

Knowledge must be stabilized by meditation. Without meditation, knowledge is like a child in battle.

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

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

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

Love is not a feeling. It's a capability.