When you note pain, you are not trying to make it go away. You are trying to understand its true nature.

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

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

The whole path of mindfulness is about letting go. We let go of our attachment to our views, our attachment to our opinions, our attachment to our ideas.

There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.

The difference between misery and happiness depends on what we do with our attention.

The perfect moment is this one, not the one you're waiting for.

The four foundations of mindfulness are not separate practices but different aspects of the same practice of clear awareness.

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

This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.

Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what's happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what's happening.

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.

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

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

The difference between being caught in thoughts and being mindful of thoughts is like the difference between being in a movie and watching a movie.

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

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

The practice of mindfulness is the practice of being alive in the present moment.

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

When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you intuit dharma intimately.

Mindfulness is the gentle effort to be continuously present with experience.

Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.

In the spiritual world there are no time divisions such as the past, present and future; for they have contracted themselves into a single moment of the present where life quivers in its true sense.

The past is gone, the future is not yet here. Live in the present moment with awareness.

Each breath is a new beginning, a fresh opportunity to awaken.

The past is just a memory. The future is just a dream. Be here now.

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

Study the Buddha's teaching which is present in every moment.

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

The five aggregates are not a theoretical model but a description of lived experience to be investigated through mindfulness.

Life is available only in the present moment.

Mindfulness is attention to life, and life itself is sacred.

Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the "support," of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached.

In the spring, hundreds of flowers; in autumn, a harvest moon; in the summer, a refreshing breeze; in winter, snow will accompany you. If useless things do not hang in your mind, any season is a good season for you.

Impermanence, suffering, and non-self are not philosophical concepts but realities to be directly perceived through mindfulness practice.

Mindfulness means keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality.

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

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.

The practice of mindfulness begins in the small, remote cave of your unconscious mind and blossoms with the sunlight of your conscious life.

The things that matter most in our lives are not fantastic or grand. They are the moments when we touch one another.

Mindfulness is being aware of what's going on, not trying to control what's going on.

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.

Our basic nature is pure awareness that simply cognizes experience. Everything else is temporary and adventitious.

Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes.

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

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

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

The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand; I take a book from the other side of the desk; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring wood: all these I do in Zen.

Every time we become aware of a thought, as opposed to being lost in a thought, we experience that opening of the mind.

When you note pain, you should not dwell on the thought, "I feel pain." Simply recognize the presence of pain.

We can learn to be present with whatever is happening in our lives, and in this way, we can begin to transform our relationship to difficulty.

Just know what is happening in your mind - not happy or sad about it, not attached. If you suffer, see it, know it, be empty.

The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.

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

The key to transformation is not to fight with our experience but to open to it with awareness.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.