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

Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we're holding back.

In meditation, we're not trying to get rid of thoughts but to recognize their true nature.

The object of meditation and the mind which knows it must be noted as they occur. If they are not noted, desire arises and disturbs concentration.

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.

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

Each moment of noting is a moment of purification, a moment of cultivating the path.

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

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

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

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 look directly at our thoughts, they dissolve like bubbles in water.

Every time we become aware of a thought, as opposed to being lost in a thought, we experience that opening of the mind.

When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others.

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

The force of the kindness of others is so strong, we can't possibly measure it.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophy or a religion; it is a method of practice.

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

The Noble Eightfold Path is a path of training: training in ethical conduct, training in mental discipline, and training in wisdom.

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

The dharma is not in the books. If you want to find the dharma, look in your mind.

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

Knowledge must be stabilized by meditation. Without meditation, knowledge is like a child in battle.

Every moment of confusion is also a moment of wisdom, if we can learn to recognize it.

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

Concentration and insight are like two wings of a bird: both are necessary for the flight to liberation.

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

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

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

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

The essence of meditation is not something complicated or exotic. It is simply taking a break from our habitual patterns.

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

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

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

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

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

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind.

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

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

The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities.

Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature.

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

Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.

The practice of mindfulness leads naturally to concentration. Concentration leads naturally to wisdom.

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

Whatever we do, we should see ourselves. Reading books doesn't show us our defilements. Watch yourself. Watch your mind.

When walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble.

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

Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice.

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

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

Understanding at the intellectual level is not enough. There must be experience at the actual level.

The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self.

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

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

Our emotions are like waves in the ocean. We can't stop the waves, but we can learn to surf.

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.

Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.