The Buddha taught us to leave alone the things that don't lead to awakening.

The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.

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

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

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

Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words are fruitless in a man who does not act in accordance with them.

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.

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

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

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

The noting mind and the object noted appear to occur as a pair. Through concentration they are seen to arise and vanish together.

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

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

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

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.

Hope and fear come from feeling that we lack something; they come from a sense of poverty. We can't simply relax with ourselves. We hold on to hope, and hope robs us of the present moment.

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 practice of mindfulness leads naturally to concentration. Concentration leads naturally to wisdom.

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

The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self.

The goal of meditation is not to reach some highest place, but to remain in the place where you already are.

The practitioner and practice are like fire and wood. The more you practice, the more you burn.

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.

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

Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we're holding back.

Meditation is not about achieving anything. It's about letting go of everything.

We need the courage to learn from our experience and the wisdom to be willing to change and grow.

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

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

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

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

A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.

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

Our own life has to be our message.

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

The purpose of Buddhist practice is not to become a Buddhist but to awaken to the nature of reality.

When both body and mind are at peace, all things appear as they are: perfect, complete, lacking nothing.

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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

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

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

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

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

Face your own anger and you will be free from anger. Face your own fears and you will be free from fear.

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.

When we develop patience, we find that we develop a reserve of calm and tranquility.

Compassion is not mere sentiment but a powerful force that can transform both ourselves and others.

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

There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen. Even though you read much Zen literature, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind.

Our defilements are like tame tigers. If you feed them, they're tame. If you stop feeding them, they'll eat you up.

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

Kindness is the solution to all of life's problems.

Each of you is perfect the way you are... and you can use a little improvement.

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

When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point.

The silence between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

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

The true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.

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

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