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

The purpose of Buddhist practice is not to become a Buddhist but to awaken to the nature of reality.

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.

Should a person do good, let him do it again and again. Let him find pleasure therein, for blissful is the accumulation of good.

The practice of mindfulness is simply to bring awareness to what we are doing, what we are saying, and what we are thinking.

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

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

True peace comes not from controlling the world, but from letting go of control.

The most profound meditation is to think nothing at all.

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

Concentration develops naturally through continuous noting. Don't try to force concentration to arise.

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.

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

The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.

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

Where there is great doubt, there is great awakening; small doubt, small awakening; no doubt, no awakening.

The mind is like a wild monkey, jumping here and there. But through meditation, we learn to see whatever arises in our mind with more spaciousness and clarity.

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

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced mind that sees things clearly without reaction.

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

Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.

The rising and falling of the abdomen is not the main object. The main object is to develop mindfulness, concentration, and insight.

Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts.

The role of Zen is neither to stand above life nor to run away from it, but to face it with a spirit of determination.

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

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.

The dharma is not about collecting more beliefs but about becoming free from the power of belief itself.

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

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

In meditation, we are continuously discovering who and what we are.

When you note pain, you should not dwell on the thought, "I feel pain." Simply recognize the presence of pain.

Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.

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

Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, wisdom arises naturally as we open our hearts to the truth of what is.

The moment you note a thought, it disappears. The noting mind keeps the hindrances away.

The noting mind and the object noted appear to occur as a pair. Through concentration they are seen to arise and vanish together.

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

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

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

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.

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.

The snow lion stays in the mountains, and the snow lion's ways are the snow lion's ways.

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

We deal with our mind from morning until evening, and it can be our best friend or our worst enemy.

Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.

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

When mindfulness is weak, defilements are strong; when mindfulness is strong, defilements are weak.

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.

The Buddha's path is not about becoming somebody different but about becoming more and more who you really are.

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

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

You are the master of your own mind. You can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

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

The essence of Buddhist practice is to bring everything onto the path. Every experience becomes an opportunity for awakening.

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.

The way to change others' minds is with affection, and not anger.

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

The greatest obstacle to meditation is our expectation about what it should be.

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.

Don't expect or desire anything. Just keep noting whatever arises in the present moment.