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

Face your own anger and you will be free from anger. Face your own fears and you will be free from fear.

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

Misery ceases to exist when we stop reacting to sensations.

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

The path to liberation requires both understanding and practice, both pariyatti and patipatti.

Compassion is a verb.

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.

When things fall apart and we're on the verge of we know not what, the test of each of us is to stay on that brink and not concretize.

The dharma is not in the books. If you want to find the dharma, look in your mind.

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

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.

The development of insight is gradual, but the realization of truth is sudden.

Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks.

Through understanding emptiness, one does not become proud of one's virtues, just as one does not become proud of building a castle in the sky.

Whatever we do, we should see ourselves. Reading books doesn't show us our defilements. Watch yourself. Watch your mind.

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

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

The more you are motivated by love, the more fearless and free your actions will be.

When we develop patience, we find that we develop a reserve of calm and tranquility.

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

Our emotions are like waves in the ocean. We can't stop the waves, but we can learn to surf.

Meditation is not about trying to change your experience; it's about changing your relationship to your experience.

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

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 essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

Our true nature is like a diamond - pure, brilliant, and indestructible. No matter how much dirt covers it, its essential nature remains unchanged.

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

The mind is like a room with many windows. Open them all and let the fresh air in.

The grass is greener where you water it.

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

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

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

We can learn the art of fierce compassion - redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking.

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

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

The yogi's joy is in the solitude of mountains, where all distractions naturally dissolve into emptiness.

The deepest happiness comes from having an enduring sense of purpose, one that gives our lives meaning beyond the endless pursuit of pleasure and success.

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

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

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

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

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

Compassion is not mere sentiment but a powerful force that can transform both ourselves and others.

When we look directly at our thoughts, they dissolve like bubbles in water.

The practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

Anxiety and excitement are the same emotion. The only difference is our attitude toward the experience.

Liberation is not found by running away from our experience but by looking deeply into it.

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

Be a lamp unto yourself. Work out your liberation with diligence.

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.

The only way to fail at meditation is to stop doing it.

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

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

The supreme path is not to fabricate anything. The supreme meditation is not to be distracted.

The signs of practice are not in extraordinary experiences but in extraordinary awareness of ordinary experiences.