The best way to solve a problem is to help someone else solve their problem.

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

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

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

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

Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.

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

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

Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

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

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.

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

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

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

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

Meditation is the ultimate mobile device; you can use it anywhere, anytime, unobtrusively.

The measure of success in spiritual life is how peaceful you are.

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

The root of all mind is your own present pure awareness. Rest in that essence without seeking elsewhere.

Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking.

The Four Noble Truths are not mere doctrinal propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our lives.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

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

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

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.

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

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.

What you are is what you have been. What you'll be is what you do now.

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

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

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

The goal of Buddhist practice is not to escape from the world but to transform our relationship with it.

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

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

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.

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

The more precisely you note, the more clearly you understand. The more clearly you understand, the stronger your insight becomes.

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.

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 true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.

The view is like a lion - it cannot be led around by anything else. Meditation is like an eagle - it cannot be distracted by anything else. Action is like a madman - it is free from accepting and rejecting.

Compassion is a verb.

Where is the place that your original face has not yet emerged?

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.

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

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

The silence between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

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.

The practice of meditation is not about achieving states of bliss but about seeing things as they really are.

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

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

The root of happiness is altruism — the wish to be of service to others.

Short moments, many times. That is the essence of meditation practice.

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

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

In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived, how well we have loved, how well we have learned to let go.

Compassion is not something we develop. It arises naturally as we see the truth of what is.

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

The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.