Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.

Our true nature is like a diamond - pure, brilliant, and indestructible. No matter how much dirt covers it, its essential nature remains unchanged.

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

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

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

If it isn't good, let it die. If it doesn't die, make it good.

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

It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.

It is never too late to turn on the light.

There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.

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

Each breath is a new beginning, a fresh opportunity to awaken.

Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

Study the Buddha's teaching which is present in every moment.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.

The most important thing in life is to know death is coming and to prepare for it.

The dharma is not outside of you. Looking for it elsewhere is like placing a Buddha on your head while searching for him everywhere else.

The highest mantra is to be without deception. The highest medicine is to have few desires. The highest meditation is not to be attached.

The key to meditation is to recognize the nature of your mind rather than trying to change it.

Every time we become aware of a thought, as opposed to being lost in a thought, we experience that opening of the mind.

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.

The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought.

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

If you want to understand suffering, you must look into the situation at hand. The teachings say that wherever a problem arises it must be settled right there.

Mindfulness is being aware of what's going on, not trying to control what's going on.

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

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

Conquer anger with non-anger. Conquer evil with good. Conquer stinginess with giving. Conquer deceit with truth.

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

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

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.

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

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

My religion is to live and die without regret.

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

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

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

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

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

The way to change the world is to change your own mind.

In meditation, we are continuously discovering who and what we are.

Compassion is not just about being kind to others. It's about being kind to ourselves as well.

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

Meditation is not about escaping from difficulty but about meeting it with awareness.

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

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

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

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

We need to learn to let our emotions pass through us like waves, without getting caught in their undertow.

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

Happiness is a skill that can be developed like playing an instrument or learning to read.

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

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

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

Faith is the firm foundation, diligence the supporting pillar, and wisdom the roof of the house of practice.

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.

Forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past could have been any different.

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.