Sensations are not your enemy. They are your teacher. Through observing them, you understand the truth of existence.

When we recognize that our thoughts are just thoughts, we can choose whether or not to follow them.

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.

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

The dharma wheel turns from the beginning. There is neither excess nor deficiency. The whole universe is moistened with nectar, and the truth is ready to harvest.

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

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

Zen proposes its solution by directly appealing to facts of personal experience and not to book-knowledge.

Metta is the ability to embrace all parts of ourselves, as well as all parts of the world.

The great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

Compassion is the radicalism of our time.

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

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

The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the dharma gate of joyful ease.

The purpose of a spiritual discipline is to give us a way to stop the war, not by our force of will, but through understanding and through letting go.

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.

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.

Time passes unhindered. When we make ourselves better, we make the world better.

When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.

The archer ceases to be conscious of himself as the one who is engaged in hitting the bull's-eye which confronts him. This state of unconsciousness is realized only when, completely empty and rid of the self, he becomes one with the perfecting of his technical skill.

Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words are fruitless in a man who does not act in accordance with them.

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

Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.

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

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

Each moment of mindfulness is a moment of purification.

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.

We need the courage to learn from our experience and the wisdom to be willing to change and grow.

Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.

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

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

The practice of mindfulness transforms the mind from a place of suffering into an instrument of enlightenment.

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

The grass is greener where you water it.

The Noble Eightfold Path is not a path of mere intellectual understanding but a path of practice, of inner transformation.

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

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

We practice to learn how to let go, not how to increase our holding on to things.

At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening. If you doubt fully, you will awaken fully.

Meditation is not about getting away from it all. It's about getting into it all.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When you let go of trying to control everything, you can relax and enjoy life.

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

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

The true mark of a spiritual practitioner is that your own behavior is better, not that you can criticize others well.

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

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.

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

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

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

When you generate negativity, you are the first victim of your negativity.

The most profound meditation is to think nothing at all.

Compassion is not mere sentiment but a powerful force that can transform both ourselves and others.