In the monastery of your body, the monk of your mind must stay in retreat.

The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the dharma gate of joyful ease.

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

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

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

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

The purpose of meditation is not to create a mental vacuum but to come to know one's own mind.

The path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.

Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks.

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.

Your mind is like a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.

Our own life has to be our message.

In meditation, we're not trying to get rid of thoughts but to recognize their true nature.

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

The yogi's joy is in the solitude of mountains, where all distractions naturally dissolve into emptiness.

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

Generosity generates its own enthusiasm. We don't have to force ourselves to be generous; we just need to start.

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.

The most important things in our practice are our physical posture and our way of breathing.

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

The more precisely you note, the more clearly you understand. The more clearly you understand, the stronger your insight becomes.

The source of love is deep in us and we can help others realize a lot of happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person's suffering and bring that person joy.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one's own acts, done and undone.

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

Metta (loving-kindness) becomes truly effective only when it arises from a peaceful mind, a pure mind, a balanced mind.

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

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

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

Every sensation shares the same characteristic - arising, passing. Arising, passing. Learn to observe objectively.

The practice of mindfulness is simple: whatever you experience, you observe and note it.

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

The whole path of mindfulness is about letting go. We let go of our attachment to our views, our attachment to our opinions, our attachment to our ideas.

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

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

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

The perfect moment is this one, not the one you're waiting for.

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

Mindfulness is being aware of what is happening right now, without wishing it were different.

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.

The more clearly you see the arising and passing of phenomena, the less you will be attached to them.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to reduce our selfishness and to work for the benefit of others.

When we recognize that our thoughts are just thoughts, we can choose whether or not to follow them.

Liberation is found in the practice, not in the theory.

Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us.

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

The snow lion stays in the mountains, and the snow lion's ways are the snow lion's ways.

The Buddha's teaching challenges us to master the art of living, to live in a way that leads to the extinction of suffering.

Buddhist practice is not to eliminate life's problems but to grow with them patiently and with compassion.

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

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

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

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

The technique of self-observation is the technique of observing the reality about oneself at the experiential level.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

Meditation is not about getting rid of thoughts; it's about changing the way we relate to them.

The more you meditate, the more you understand yourself and the better friend you become to yourself.

The measure of success in spiritual life is how peaceful you are.

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