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

Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.

Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently. Patiently and persistently. And you're bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.

The practice of Dharma is a constant battle within oneself.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem.

Mindfulness is the key to the present moment. Without it we cannot see the world clearly, and we cannot make the wisest choices in our lives.

Concentration is a cornerstone of mindfulness practice. Your mindfulness will only be as robust as your capacity to ground your attention in the present moment.

Anxiety and excitement are the same emotion. The only difference is our attitude toward the experience.

The only way to fail at meditation is to stop doing it.

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

In my youth I studied, in my prime I practiced, now all my doubts are cleared.

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

Zen is a way of life, not a theory or a piece of knowledge to be stored away in our minds.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

The path is not about moving from one place to another. It's about recognizing where we already are.

Insight knowledge comes from direct experience, not from intellectual understanding.

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.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

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

Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

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

The greatest obstacle to meditation is our expectation about what it should be.

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

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

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

The stages of insight unfold naturally when mindfulness is continuous. There is no need to desire them or try to make them happen.

The restraint of the senses is not a matter of suppression but of wise attention to our experience.

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 way to overcome anger is to be too busy being kind to have time to be angry.

Be a lamp unto yourself. Work out your liberation with diligence.

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

Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.

Meditation is not an escape from reality but a way to understand reality as it truly is.

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

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

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

Don't expect or desire anything. Just keep noting whatever arises in the present moment.

If you want to climb a mountain, begin at the top.

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

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

Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts.

When mindfulness and concentration are strong, insight into the three characteristics naturally unfolds.

Just observe whatever arises. Don't try to create anything, and don't reject anything.

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

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

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

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

What you are is what you have been. What you'll be is what you do now.

You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can't solve your own doubts. Investigate yourself to find the truth - inside, not outside.

The Noble Eightfold Path is not a path of mere intellectual understanding but a path of practice, of inner transformation.

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

Compassion is a verb.

The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.