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

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

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?

The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.

Life is nothing but a continuous chain of sensations. Pleasant or unpleasant, observe them objectively.

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.

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

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.

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.

Our task is to learn to see clearly what is happening in each moment, rather than be lost in our reactions and judgments.

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

Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice.

Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay.

The Buddha's teachings are not about abandoning our lives but about bringing the fullness of our attention to our lives.

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

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.

Mindfulness is the quality and power of mind that is aware of what's happening—without judgment and without interference.

Mindfulness is not just bare attention but wise attention that leads to understanding and insight.

Time passes unhindered. When we make mistakes, we cannot turn the clock back and try again. All we can do is use the present well.

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

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

Every sensation shares the same characteristic - arising, passing. Arising, passing. Learn to observe objectively.

Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.

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

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

The practice is not about achieving special states but about seeing ordinary experience with extraordinary clarity.

When you note effectively, there is no time for defilements to arise. The mind becomes pure through noting.

When mindfulness is weak, defilements are strong; when mindfulness is strong, defilements are weak.

Each moment of clear seeing is a moment of freedom from the illusion of permanence, satisfaction, and self.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

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

What you are is what you have been. What you'll be is what you do now.

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

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.

Be happy at the moment, that's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.

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.

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

The past is for learning from, not for living in.

Each moment of mindfulness is a moment of purification.

The practice of mindfulness leads naturally to concentration. Concentration leads naturally to wisdom.

Observe the reality as it is, not as you wish it to be.

Through continuous mindfulness practice, the true nature of physical and mental phenomena becomes clear.

Sensations are not your enemy. They are your teacher. Through observing them, you understand the truth of existence.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Mindfulness is the key to the present moment. Without it we cannot see the world clearly, and we cannot make the wisest choices in our lives.

Mindfulness is the key to transformation. It enables us to see our experience as it really is, free from distortion and bias.

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

Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.

When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love.