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

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

Meditation is like a gym in which you develop the powerful mental muscles of calm and insight.

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

When you note pain, you are not trying to make it go away. You are trying to understand its true nature.

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

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

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

The entire path is a path of self-responsibility. Nobody else can walk it for you.

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Short moments, many times. That is the essence of meditation practice.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

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.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.

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

The only thing that we truly have control over is our attitude toward experience.

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

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

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

The key to transformation is not to fight with our experience but to open to it with awareness.

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.

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind.

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

Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.

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

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

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

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

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

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.

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

The only way to fail at meditation is to stop doing it.

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

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

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. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace.

When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love.

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.

Breathing in, there is only the present moment. Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.

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.

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

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

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

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

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

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

The law of nature is the law of cause and effect. As you sow, so shall you reap.

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

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

The goal of Buddhist practice is not to escape from the world but to transform our relationship with it.

Better to have one moment of genuine meditation than to perform religious activities for a thousand years.

The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.

Mindfulness is not just bare attention but wise attention that leads to understanding and insight.

The cultivation of loving-kindness is the thread that runs through all Buddhist teachings.

Compassion is a verb.

When you practice zazen you should not try to attain anything. You should just sit in the complete calmness of your mind and not rely on anything.

When dharma fills your body and mind, you realize that something is missing.