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

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

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

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

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

When mindfulness and concentration are strong, insight into the three characteristics naturally unfolds.

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes.

Our defilements are like tame tigers. If you feed them, they're tame. If you stop feeding them, they'll eat you up.

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

Insight knowledge comes from direct experience, not from intellectual understanding.

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

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

If you want to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be miserable, expect something in return.

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

The cultivation of loving-kindness is the thread that runs through all Buddhist teachings.

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

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

Meditation is not just about sitting quietly, it's about transforming the mind.

We practice to learn how to let go, not how to increase our holding on to things.

The archer ceases to be conscious of himself as the one who is engaged in hitting the bull's-eye which confronts him. This state of unconsciousness is realized only when, completely empty and rid of the self, he becomes one with the perfecting of his technical skill.

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.

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

My religion is to live and die without regret.

Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.

The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your two feet.

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

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

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

Genuine happiness comes from having developed basic human qualities, such as attention, emotional balance, and generosity.

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.

Our task is not to seek for love but to find all the barriers within ourselves that we have built against it.

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.

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced mind that sees things clearly without reaction.

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

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

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

In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light.

We can learn the art of fierce compassion - redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking.

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

Breathing in, there is only the present moment. Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.

The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery.

Technical knowledge is not enough. One must transcend techniques so that the art becomes an artless art, growing out of the unconscious.

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

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense.

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

Wisdom arises when you see the true characteristics of phenomena through direct experience.

The willingness to empty ourselves and then seek our true nature is an expression of great and courageous love.

Mindfulness is not just bare attention but wise attention that leads to understanding and insight.

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.

As long as our orientation is toward perfection or success, we will never learn about unconditional friendship with ourselves, nor will we find compassion.

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

Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.

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

The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded.

The practice of mindfulness is the practice of being alive in the present moment.

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.

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

There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.