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.

As a flower that is lovely and beautiful, but is scentless, even so fruitless is the well-spoken word of one who does not practice it.

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

In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived, how well we have loved, how well we have learned to let go.

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

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.

The yogi's joy is in the solitude of mountains, where all distractions naturally dissolve into emptiness.

The practice of meditation is like tuning an instrument. Too tight, and the strings break. Too loose, and they won't play.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

The practice of mindfulness is the practice of being alive in the present moment.

Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.

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

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

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

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

The heart of one who practices is like the earth. No matter what they throw on it, the earth remains unchanged.

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

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

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

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

When things fall apart and we're on the verge of we know not what, the test of each of us is to stay on that brink and not concretize.

The practice is simply this: keep coming back to your breath during the day. This will give your mind a steadiness and your life a balance.

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

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.

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

In the moment of love, awareness is very strong. Use that awareness, that strength of consciousness, to look into yourself.

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

The mind is like a wild monkey, jumping here and there. But through meditation, we learn to see whatever arises in our mind with more spaciousness and clarity.

Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.

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

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

The perfect moment is this one, not the one you're waiting for.

The practice of ethics is not about following rules but about developing inner purity and freedom.

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

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

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

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

When you note pain, you should not dwell on the thought, "I feel pain." Simply recognize the presence of pain.

Start from where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

Mindfulness is attention to life, and life itself is sacred.

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

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

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced mind that sees things clearly without reaction.

Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake up and become aware. It does not teach, it points.

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

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

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

Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.

The first step toward faith is to admit that we don't know everything.

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

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

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.

Maintain the state of undistractedness and distractions will fly away.

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

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

As surely as there is a voyage away, there is a journey home.