The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that's really swell.

The stages of insight unfold naturally when mindfulness is continuous. There is no need to desire them or try to make them happen.

We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to bring everything onto the path. Every experience becomes an opportunity for awakening.

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

The root of all suffering is ignorance. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom that realizes emptiness.

Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves.

When mindfulness and concentration are strong, insight into the three characteristics naturally unfolds.

Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back, and reasons to stay.

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

The nature of all things is like a magical illusion, a mirage, a dream, a reflection of the moon in water.

Our own life has to be our message.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophy or a religion; it is a method of practice.

When we recognize that our thoughts are just thoughts, we can choose whether or not to follow them.

When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.

The grass is greener where you water it.

It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.

The realization of impermanence leads not to despair but to a deeper appreciation of the preciousness of each moment.

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

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

The biggest prison is the one we build in our own mind.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

The only thing that we truly have control over is our attitude toward experience.

A pure mind is always full of love - real love for all others.

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

The water in the ocean can be rough or calm. It can be clear or murky. But the water itself doesn't mind.

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

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 path to liberation requires both understanding and practice, both pariyatti and patipatti.

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

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

Insight knowledge comes from direct experience, not from intellectual understanding.

Change is possible because there is nothing inherently permanent about our disturbing emotions.

The more you suffer the deeper grows your character, and with the deepening of your character you read the more penetratingly into the secrets of life.

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

The practice is like peeling an onion. Layer after layer of delusion is removed through continuous mindfulness.

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

Kindness is the solution to all of life's problems.

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced state of mind.

Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

The more you understand yourself, the more you understand the world.

The more we understand our mind, the more we understand the world.

The lamp of wisdom burns constantly, illuminating the nature of mind.

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help.

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

The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem.

The nature of the mind is like the sky, and our thoughts, emotions, and experiences are like clouds passing through it.

Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.

Personal experience is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

The purpose of a spiritual discipline is to give us a way to stop the war, not by our force of will, but through understanding and through letting go.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

The best way to solve a problem is to help someone else solve their problem.

The mind is intrinsically empty. It's empty of all that we perceive as being intrinsically "me" and "mine."

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.

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