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.

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

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

Self-awareness is the key to freedom. The more we understand ourselves, the more we understand how to be free.

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

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

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

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

Mindfulness is being aware of what is happening right now, without wishing it were different.

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 more precisely you note, the more clearly you understand. The more clearly you understand, the stronger your insight becomes.

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

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.

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 practice of mindfulness transforms the mind from a place of suffering into an instrument of enlightenment.

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

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

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.

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.

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

The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.

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

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

Each moment of noting is a moment of purification, a moment of cultivating the path.

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

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

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

Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Smile, breathe, and go slowly.

The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech.

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

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

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

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.

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

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

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

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.

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

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.

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

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

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

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

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

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

When mindfulness becomes continuous, the distinction between the observer and the observed begins to break down.

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

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.

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

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