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

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

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

Meditation is not an escape from life but a way to fully engage with life.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 quieter you become, the more you can hear.

Maintain the state of undistractedness and distractions will fly away.

Meditation is not about getting rid of thoughts; it's about changing the way we relate to them.

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

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

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

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

Sleep is the best meditation.

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

The most important things in our practice are our physical posture and our way of breathing.

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

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

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

Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking.

The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay the practice of meditation.

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

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

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

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.

Meditation is not about trying to change ourselves. Meditation is about being aware of what is.

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

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

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.

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

Meditation practice isn't about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It's about befriending who we are already.

The goal of meditation is not to reach some highest place, but to remain in the place where you already are.

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 practice of meditation is not about achieving states of bliss but about seeing things as they really are.

Meditation is not an escape from reality but a way to understand reality as it truly is.

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

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

Let go of what has passed. Let go of what may come. Let go of what is happening now. Don't try to figure anything out. Don't try to make anything happen. Relax, right now, and rest.

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

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

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

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

When thoughts arise, recognize them as the display of your own awareness, like recognizing your own children in a crowd.

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

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

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

Meditation is the road to happiness.

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

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

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

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

Breathing in, there is only the present moment. Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.

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