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

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

Enlightenment is not about becoming something special, but about realizing what we already are.

Buddhas and ordinary beings are not two. Enlightenment and delusion are not different paths.

To see nothing is to perceive the Way, and to understand nothing is to know the Dharma.

Intrinsically all living beings are Buddhas, just as ice and water are of the same substance.

The difference between buddhas and sentient beings is that buddhas recognize their nature while sentient beings fail to recognize it.

Do not mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization for liberation.

Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead, it's about becoming more fully human.

Liberation is found in the practice, not in the theory.

To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things.

Whatever precious jewel there is in the heavenly worlds, there is nothing comparable to one who is awakened.

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

The Buddha and all sentient beings are nothing but expressions of the one mind. There is nothing else.

The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.

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

Few among men are they who cross to the further shore. The others merely run up and down the bank on this side.

Concentration and insight are like two wings of a bird: both are necessary for the flight to liberation.

The path of practice moves from faith through understanding to direct realization.

To study the Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.

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

Every being has the potential of becoming a Buddha. Our true nature is Buddha nature.

Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, so also this teaching and discipline has one taste, the taste of liberation.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

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

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

Enlightenment is not the end of change but the end of resistance to change.

This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

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

Everybody has the light of Buddha within, but they don't look for it.

Just as the wise do not take a mirage to be water, nor an echo to be a voice, so the enlightened do not take the world to be real.

The state of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is, itself, enlightenment.

When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

The path to liberation is through understanding the true nature of mind and matter through direct observation.

Enlightenment is the realization that we were never really separate from one another or from all of life.

To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.

The way is basically perfect. It is not a matter of practice or enlightenment.

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

Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

The path of awakening is not about becoming who we think we should be, but about unbecoming who we are not.

The goal of the Buddhist path is not to add something to our existence but to discover something that has been there all along.

All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha.

The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.

The eye with which I see Buddha is the same eye with which Buddha sees me.

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

The ultimate revolution is the spiritual revolution, where we learn to see reality as it truly is.

Wherever you are, you are one with the clouds and one with the sun and the stars you see. You are one with everything. That is more true than I can say, and more true than you can hear.

Every moment of mindfulness is a step on the path to liberation. Each step is valuable, no matter how small.

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

There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana. There is no difference at all between nirvana and samsara.

If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

The path to liberation is a gradual path of self-discipline, self-development, and self-transformation.