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

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.

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 an escape from life but a way to fully engage with life.

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

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

Meditation is the road to happiness.

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

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

In meditation, we're not trying to get rid of thoughts but to recognize their true nature.

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

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

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.

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

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

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The most profound meditation is to think nothing at all.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sleep is the best meditation.

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

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

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

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

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