Meditation is the road to happiness.

The treasure house within you contains everything, and you are free to use it. You don't need to seek outside.

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.

When mindfulness and concentration are strong, insight into the three characteristics naturally unfolds.

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

Each moment of mindfulness is a moment of purification.

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

Try to be mindful and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool.

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

The Buddha's teaching is not about belief but about investigation, not about accepting but about examining.

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

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

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

In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light.

Generosity generates its own enthusiasm. We don't have to force ourselves to be generous; we just need to start.

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

Every thought, every word, and every action leaves an imprint on our mind.

In the monastery of your body, the monk of your mind must stay in retreat.

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

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

The grass is greener where you water it.

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

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

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.

The stages of insight unfold naturally when mindfulness is continuous. There is no need to desire them or try to make them happen.

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

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.

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

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

Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already.

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.

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Misery ceases to exist when we stop reacting to sensations.

The most profound meditation is to think nothing at all.

To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.

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

The practitioner and practice are like fire and wood. The more you practice, the more you burn.

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.

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

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

The path of practice moves from faith through understanding to direct realization.

Meditation is not just about sitting quietly, it's about transforming the mind.

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

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

The ultimate purpose of Buddhism is to serve and benefit humanity.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

The highest mantra is to be without deception. The highest medicine is to have few desires. The highest meditation is not to be attached.

The willingness to empty ourselves and then seek our true nature is an expression of great and courageous love.

The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.

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

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

Compassion is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.

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.

Every step on the path must be with the understanding of anicca - impermanence. This is the essence of the teaching.

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

Study the Buddha's teaching which is present in every moment.

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