Right practice is steady practice. Whether you feel lazy or diligent, just keep practicing.

The dharma is not outside of you. Looking for it elsewhere is like placing a Buddha on your head while searching for him everywhere else.

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

There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way.

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

Meditation is not about getting away from it all. It's about getting into it all.

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

The more you give, the more you have. That's the economics of kindness.

The practice of meditation requires both energy and patience, both effort and relaxation.

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

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 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.

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

The four foundations of mindfulness are not separate practices but different aspects of the same practice of clear awareness.

The only way to experience truth is to look within, to observe oneself.

Faith is the firm foundation, diligence the supporting pillar, and wisdom the roof of the house of practice.

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

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

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

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

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

Mindfulness is the key to the present moment. Without it we cannot see the world clearly, and we cannot make the wisest choices in our lives.

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

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.

Don't be afraid of the future. The future is good.

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

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

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

When you practice zazen you should not try to attain anything. You should just sit in the complete calmness of your mind and not rely on anything.

The practice of mindfulness transforms the mind from a place of suffering into an instrument of enlightenment.

It is never too late to turn on the light.

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

The Buddha taught us to leave alone the things that don't lead to awakening.

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.

The key to transformation is not to fight with our experience but to open to it with awareness.

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

Forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past could have been any different.

Compassion is the radicalism of our time.

Zen is a way of life, not a theory or a piece of knowledge to be stored away in our minds.

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

The everyday practice is simply to develop complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions.

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.

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.

Meditation is like catching a fish. If you try to catch it quickly, you'll miss it. If you have patience and know how to wait, the fish will come.

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

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

The trouble is, you think you have time.

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

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

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

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

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.

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

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand; I take a book from the other side of the desk; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring wood: all these I do in Zen.

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

Sensations are not your enemy. They are your teacher. Through observing them, you understand the truth of existence.

If it isn't good, let it die. If it doesn't die, make it good.

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