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.

The challenge in meditation is not to eliminate thinking but to understand the nature of thought itself.

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

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

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

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

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

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

The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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

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

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.

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.

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

Panic is a gateway to wisdom. When we learn to stay present with our panic, it becomes our teacher.

When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you intuit dharma intimately.

Better to have one moment of genuine meditation than to perform religious activities for a thousand years.

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

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

The practice of metta begins with oneself, for only when we have developed loving-kindness towards ourselves can we truly offer it to others.

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.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophy or a religion; it is a method of practice.

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

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.

Liberation is not found by running away from our experience but by looking deeply into it.

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

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

Meditation is like a gym in which you develop the powerful mental muscles of calm and insight.

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

The heart of one who practices is like the earth. No matter what they throw on it, the earth remains unchanged.

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

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

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

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

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

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

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

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

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

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

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

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

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

Each moment of mindfulness is a moment of purification.

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

Through understanding emptiness, one does not become proud of one's virtues, just as one does not become proud of building a castle in the sky.

The object of meditation and the mind which knows it must be noted as they occur. If they are not noted, desire arises and disturbs concentration.

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

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced state of mind.

Maintain the state of undistractedness and distractions will fly away.

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

Meditation is not an escape from life but a way to fully engage with life.

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

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

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

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