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

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

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

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. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace.

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

You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.

Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.

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

When you generate negativity, you are the first victim of your negativity.

Devotion is the head of meditation, as is often said. When you are inspired by some spiritual teacher, you can have a very strong connection with that person, and thereby the blessings can enter.

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

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

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

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 law of nature is the law of cause and effect. As you sow, so shall you reap.

The greatest obstacle to meditation is our expectation about what it should be.

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

The development of wisdom does not occur in isolation but requires the cultivation of the entire Noble Eightfold Path.

The practice is like peeling an onion. Layer after layer of delusion is removed through continuous mindfulness.

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

Zen is a way of life, not a theory or a piece of knowledge to be stored away in our minds.

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

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.

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

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

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

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.

In true vipassana practice, there is no room for likes and dislikes. There is only observation.

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

The practice of meditation requires both energy and patience, both effort and relaxation.

Self-awareness is the key to freedom. The more we understand ourselves, the more we understand how to be free.

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice.

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

The path to liberation requires both understanding and practice, both pariyatti and patipatti.

Our emotions are like waves in the ocean. We can't stop the waves, but we can learn to surf.

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

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

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

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

The noting mind and the object noted appear to occur as a pair. Through concentration they are seen to arise and vanish together.

The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the dharma gate of joyful ease.

Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life, even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all beings.

Each breath is a new beginning, a fresh opportunity to awaken.

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

When mindfulness is weak, defilements are strong; when mindfulness is strong, defilements are weak.

The root of happiness is altruism — the wish to be of service to others.

The purpose of meditation is not to create a new state of mind, but to recognize what is already present.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

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

In the monastery of your body, the monk of your mind must stay in retreat.

People who study a lot but don't practice are like a ladle in a soup pot. It's in the soup every day, but it doesn't know the taste of the soup.

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

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

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

The cultivation of loving-kindness has the power to transform enmity into amity, hostility into hospitality.

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

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.