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

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

The cave I live in is empty and so is my mind. I live simply and at ease.

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

External seeking only leads to exhaustion. When you imitate others, you lose your own authenticity.

Don't be a bodhisatta; don't be an arahant; don't be anything at all. Being something makes you suffer.

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.

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

The door of your heart can only be opened from the inside.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Meditation is like catching a fish. If you try to catch it quickly, you'll miss it. If you have patience and know how to wait, the fish will come.

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

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

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

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.

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

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.

The more you give, the more you have. That's the economics of kindness.

Vipassana is the art of living. Not the art of escaping.

Each moment of mindfulness is a moment of purification.

Zazen is not step-by-step meditation. Rather it is simply the easy and pleasant practice of a Buddha, the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom.

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

We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

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

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

The practice is like peeling an onion. Layer after layer of delusion is removed through continuous mindfulness.

When you note effectively, there is no time for defilements to arise. The mind becomes pure through noting.

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

In meditation, we are continuously discovering who and what we are.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Right View is not just a matter of intellectual understanding but of seeing things as they really are.

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

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.

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

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

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

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

The practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.

Our practice cannot be perfect, but without being discouraged by this, we should continue it. This is the secret of practice.

Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks.

The more you meditate, the more you understand yourself and the better friend you become to yourself.

The Buddha's path is not about becoming somebody different but about becoming more and more who you really are.

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.

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

Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look.

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

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.

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

True peace comes not from controlling the world, but from letting go of control.

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

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

There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.