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

The practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.

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

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

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.

Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.

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

The Buddha taught that wealth does not bring happiness and security. The pursuit of wealth is a matter of living in balance.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

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

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

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

The first step toward faith is to admit that we don't know everything.

The true mark of a spiritual practitioner is that your own behavior is better, not that you can criticize others well.

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

Time passes unhindered. When we make ourselves better, we make the world better.

Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking.

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.

Zazen is not step-by-step meditation. Rather it is simply the easy and pleasant practice of a Buddha, the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom.

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

When you practice zazen you should not try to attain anything. You should just sit in the complete calmness of your mind and not rely on anything.

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.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to bring everything onto the path. Every experience becomes an opportunity for awakening.

Love is not a feeling. It's a capability.

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

The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

We deal with our mind from morning until evening, and it can be our best friend or our worst enemy.

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

Do not mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization for liberation.

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

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

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

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

Metta is the ability to embrace all parts of ourselves, as well as all parts of the world.

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 practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

Sticking with uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic—this is the spiritual path.

The mind is like a room with many windows. Open them all and let the fresh air in.

A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.

The Four Noble Truths are not merely theoretical propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our experience.

Every moment of mindfulness is a step on the path to liberation. Each step is valuable, no matter how small.

Try to be mindful and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool.

Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken! Take heed, do not squander your life.

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.

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

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

Meditation is not about getting away from it all. It's about getting into it all.

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