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

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

As long as our orientation is toward perfection or success, we will never learn about unconditional friendship with ourselves, nor will we find compassion.

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

Knowledge must be stabilized by meditation. Without meditation, knowledge is like a child in battle.

The path is the goal. Every step of the journey is the journey.

Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.

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

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

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The past is gone, the future is not yet here. Live in the present moment with awareness.

The movement of love is what creates the beauty in our lives.

Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature.

The practice of meditation is not about achieving states of bliss but about seeing things as they really are.

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

People who study a lot but don't practice are like a ladle in a soup pot. It's in the soup every day, but it doesn't know the taste of the soup.

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

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

The practice is not about achieving special states but about seeing ordinary experience with extraordinary clarity.

Meditation is not about trying to change ourselves. Meditation is about being aware of what is.

Compassion is the radicalism of our time.

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

Our emotions are like waves in the ocean. We can't stop the waves, but we can learn to surf.

The signs of practice are not in extraordinary experiences but in extraordinary awareness of ordinary experiences.

The best way to solve a problem is to help someone else solve their problem.

The development of wisdom requires both study and practice, both learning and direct experience.

Don't be afraid of the future. The future is good.

The superior person is like water, bringing benefit to all without competing.

Where is the place that your original face has not yet emerged?

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

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

We can learn the art of fierce compassion - redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking.

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

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment.

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

Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

The Four Noble Truths are not merely theoretical propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our experience.

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

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

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.

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you intuit dharma intimately.

Smile, breathe, and go slowly.

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

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

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.

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

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

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

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

The way to change others' minds is with affection, and not anger.

The truth of suffering is not to be feared but to be understood through direct observation.