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.

When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others.

To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.

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

The force of the kindness of others is so strong, we can't possibly measure it.

Compassion is not something we develop. It arises naturally as we see the truth of what is.

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

Smile, breathe, and go slowly.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

The way to overcome anger is to be too busy being kind to have time to be angry.

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

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

Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already.

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.

The superior person is like water, bringing benefit to all without competing.

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

Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts.

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

The path of practice moves from faith through understanding to direct realization.

Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

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.

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.

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

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

The dharma wheel turns from the beginning. There is neither excess nor deficiency. The whole universe is moistened with nectar, and the truth is ready to harvest.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

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

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

The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.

When you let go of trying to control everything, you can relax and enjoy life.

Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile.

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

The four foundations of mindfulness are not separate practices but different aspects of the same practice of clear awareness.

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

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

Mindfulness is attention to life, and life itself is sacred.

Even if you speak of 'understanding,' this understanding is not a matter of knowledge. It is what fills the entire body and mind.

The most profound meditation is to think nothing at all.

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

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

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

We can learn to be present with whatever is happening in our lives, and in this way, we can begin to transform our relationship to difficulty.

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

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

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

The best way to solve a problem is to help someone else solve their problem.

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

May all beings be happy, be peaceful, be liberated.

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

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.

The path is not about perfecting ourselves, but about perfecting our love.

The practice is simply this: keep coming back to your breath during the day. This will give your mind a steadiness and your life a balance.

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

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

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

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

The Buddha's teaching is not about belief but about investigation, not about accepting but about examining.

Mindfulness is the gentle effort to be continuously present with experience.