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

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

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.

The more you meditate, the more you understand yourself and the better friend you become to yourself.

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

Meditation is not about escaping from difficulty but about meeting it with awareness.

The essence of meditation is not something complicated or exotic. It is simply taking a break from our habitual patterns.

When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick. Every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower.

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

The key to meditation is to recognize the nature of your mind rather than trying to change it.

The object of meditation and the mind which knows it must be noted as they occur. If they are not noted, desire arises and disturbs concentration.

The goal of meditation is not to achieve a blank mind, but to gain insight into the nature of mind itself.

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

There are many ways to meditate. But at the heart of them all is mindfulness.

Concentration develops naturally through continuous noting. Don't try to force concentration to arise.

Concentration is a cornerstone of mindfulness practice. Your mindfulness will only be as robust as your capacity to ground your attention in the present moment.

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

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

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

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

Sleep is the best meditation.

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

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

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

The purpose of meditation is to gain right understanding of the true nature of mental and physical phenomena.

Knowledge must be stabilized by meditation. Without meditation, knowledge is like a child in battle.

The technique of self-observation is the technique of observing the reality about oneself at the experiential level.

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

Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.

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

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

Better to have one moment of genuine meditation than to perform religious activities for a thousand years.

The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort.

The practice of meditation is like tuning an instrument. Too tight, and the strings break. Too loose, and they won't play.

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

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

The greatest obstacle to meditation is our expectation about what it should be.

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

Meditation is the road to happiness.

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

Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking.

The challenge in meditation is not to eliminate thinking but to understand the nature of thought itself.

Just observe whatever arises. Don't try to create anything, and don't reject anything.

Don't expect or desire anything. Just keep noting whatever arises in the present moment.

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.

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.

Understanding at the intellectual level is not enough. There must be experience at the actual level.

Meditation in the midst of activity is a thousand times superior to meditation in stillness.

The practice is simply this: keep coming back to your breath during the day. This will give your mind a steadiness and your life a balance.

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

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.

Leave your front door and your back door open. Allow your thoughts to come and go. Just don't serve them tea.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile.

The practice of meditation is like learning to play an instrument - it takes patience, regular practice, and a gentle touch.

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

In true vipassana practice, there is no room for likes and dislikes. There is only observation.

Meditation is not about achieving anything. It's about letting go of everything.

The great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

The master's introduction is direct recognition of one's own nature. Meditation is maintaining the continuity of this recognition.