Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

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

Life is nothing but a continuous chain of sensations. Pleasant or unpleasant, observe them objectively.

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

The trouble is, you think you have time.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

The development of insight is gradual, but the realization of truth is sudden.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.

The practice of mindfulness begins in the small, remote cave of your unconscious mind and blossoms with the sunlight of your conscious life.

The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind.

The Noble Eightfold Path is a path of training: training in ethical conduct, training in mental discipline, and training in wisdom.

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

The Dhamma is not a collection of doctrinal formulas but a path leading to direct insight into the nature of reality.

There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.

Mindfulness is the quality and power of mind that is aware of what's happening—without judgment and without interference.

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

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

The rising and falling of the abdomen is not the main object. The main object is to develop mindfulness, concentration, and insight.

Concentration develops naturally through continuous noting. Don't try to force concentration to arise.

Personal experience is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

When mindfulness is weak, defilements are strong; when mindfulness is strong, defilements are weak.

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

The essence of Buddhism is not a belief system but a systematic investigation of our experience.

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

The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded.

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.

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

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

The deepest happiness comes from having an enduring sense of purpose, one that gives our lives meaning beyond the endless pursuit of pleasure and success.

The Dhamma unfolds in accordance with a definite sequence: faith, virtue, learning, generosity, wisdom, and insight.

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

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

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

Where there is great doubt, there is great awakening; small doubt, small awakening; no doubt, no awakening.

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

Mind training is based on the idea that two opposite mental factors cannot happen at the same time.

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

Compassion is not something we develop. It arises naturally as we see the truth of what is.

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.

The goal of meditation is not to achieve a blank mind, but to gain insight into the nature of mind itself.

The more we witness our emotional reactions and understand how they work, the easier it is to refrain.

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

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.

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

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

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

If you want to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be miserable, expect something in return.

Concentration and insight are like two wings of a bird: both are necessary for the flight to liberation.

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.

The dharma is not about collecting more beliefs but about becoming free from the power of belief itself.

Meditation is not just about sitting quietly, it's about transforming the mind.

Observe the reality as it is, not as you wish it to be.