Maintain the state of undistractedness and distractions will fly away.

The path is not about moving from one place to another. It's about recognizing where we already are.

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

The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

Don't try to change the world. First, change yourself.

The challenge in meditation is not to eliminate thinking but to understand the nature of thought itself.

In true vipassana practice, there is no room for likes and dislikes. There is only observation.

Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.

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.

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

Compassion is a verb.

Life is nothing but a continuous chain of sensations. Pleasant or unpleasant, observe them objectively.

You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can't solve your own doubts. Investigate yourself to find the truth - inside, not outside.

Self-awareness is the key to freedom. The more we understand ourselves, the more we understand how to be free.

The Buddha's teachings are not about abandoning our lives but about bringing the fullness of our attention to our lives.

The development of insight is gradual, but the realization of truth is sudden.

Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate. Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted. Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled. Look within, be still.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

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

Meditation is not about getting rid of thoughts; it's about changing the way we relate to them.

The purpose of meditation is not to create a new state of mind, but to recognize what is already present.

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

Personal experience is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

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.

Should you desire the great tranquility, prepare to sweat white beads.

Metta (loving-kindness) becomes truly effective only when it arises from a peaceful mind, a pure mind, a balanced mind.

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

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

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

Do everything with a mind that lets go. Don't accept praise or gain or anything else. 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.

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

The practice of mindfulness is simple: whatever you experience, you observe and note it.

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

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 highest truth cannot be taught except through the conventional truth.

Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life, even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all beings.

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense.

The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma - the way to liberation - which is universal.

True happiness comes from a sense of inner peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through cultivation of altruism, of love, of compassion.

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

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

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

Meditation is not an escape from reality but a way to understand reality as it truly is.

Misery ceases to exist when we stop reacting to sensations.

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

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

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

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

You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.

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 we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength.

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes.

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

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

The development of wisdom does not occur in isolation but requires the cultivation of the entire Noble Eightfold Path.

Our task is not to seek for love but to find all the barriers within ourselves that we have built against it.

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

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

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