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

The teaching is simple: act with kindness and compassion. If you cannot do this, at least try not to harm others.

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

Start from where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

The dharma is not in the books. If you want to find the dharma, look in your mind.

When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions.

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

The purpose of a spiritual discipline is to give us a way to stop the war, not by our force of will, but through understanding and through letting go.

You are the master of your own mind. You can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

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

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

At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening. If you doubt fully, you will awaken fully.

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

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 master's introduction is direct recognition of one's own nature. Meditation is maintaining the continuity of this recognition.

The practice of mindfulness begins in the small, remote cave of your unconscious mind and blossoms with the sunlight of your conscious life.

Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.

The Buddha's path is not about becoming somebody different but about becoming more and more who you really are.

The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

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

Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.

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

Our practice cannot be perfect, but without being discouraged by this, we should continue it. This is the secret of practice.

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

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

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

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

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.

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

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

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 idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand; I take a book from the other side of the desk; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring wood: all these I do in Zen.

Concentration develops naturally through continuous noting. Don't try to force concentration to arise.

Panic, anxiety, and stress are not obstacles to the practice. They are the path to wisdom and compassion.

When you note effectively, there is no time for defilements to arise. The mind becomes pure through noting.

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

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

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

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

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.

Do everything with a mind that lets go. Don't accept praise or gain or anything else. 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.

Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, wisdom arises naturally as we open our hearts to the truth of what is.

Compassion is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.

Our task is to learn to see clearly what is happening in each moment, rather than be lost in our reactions and judgments.

It is never too late to turn on the light.

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

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

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

Hope and fear come from feeling that we lack something; they come from a sense of poverty. We can't simply relax with ourselves. We hold on to hope, and hope robs us of the present moment.

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.

Every moment is a fresh beginning. Every breath is a new chance.

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.

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

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

Meditation is not about stopping thoughts, but recognizing that we are not our thoughts.

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

The practice of meditation is not about achieving states of bliss but about seeing things as they really are.

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

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