External seeking only leads to exhaustion. When you imitate others, you lose your own authenticity.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to reduce our selfishness and to work for the benefit of others.

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

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

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

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

Buddhist practice is not to eliminate life's problems but to grow with them patiently and with compassion.

The truth of suffering is not to be feared but to be understood through direct observation.

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

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

The path is not about moving from one place to another. It's about recognizing where we already are.

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

The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.

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

Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.

People who study a lot but don't practice are like a ladle in a soup pot. It's in the soup every day, but it doesn't know the taste of the soup.

The only thing that we truly have control over is our attitude toward experience.

The three characteristics - impermanence, suffering, and non-self - are not philosophical concepts but aspects of experience to be directly observed.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

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

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes.

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

A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.

Meditation is not about stopping thoughts, but recognizing that we are not our thoughts.

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

Mindfulness is being aware of what's going on, not trying to control what's going on.

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look.

It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.

The more we witness our emotional reactions and understand how they work, the easier it is to refrain.

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

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.

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

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

The real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

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

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

The practice is like peeling an onion. Layer after layer of delusion is removed through continuous mindfulness.

Zazen is not step-by-step meditation. Rather it is simply the easy and pleasant practice of a Buddha, the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom.

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

At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening. If you doubt fully, you will awaken fully.

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment.

Genuine happiness comes from having developed basic human qualities, such as attention, emotional balance, and generosity.

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.

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

Just as parents care for their children, you should bear in mind the whole universe.

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

The purpose of meditation is not to create a mental vacuum but to come to know one's own mind.

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.

Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one's own acts, done and undone.

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

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

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

Our task is to learn to see clearly what is happening in each moment, rather than be lost in our reactions and judgments.