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 obstacle is the path.

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

Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

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

Peace and negativity cannot coexist just as light and darkness cannot coexist.

If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace.

Zen proposes its solution by directly appealing to facts of personal experience and not to book-knowledge.

Happiness is a skill that can be developed like playing an instrument or learning to read.

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

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

If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look into your present actions.

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.

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy. This is the goal of Buddhist practice.

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

What we learn about the world is colored by the way we approach it.

My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantabhadri. I belong to the caste of non-duality of these two.

To live is enough.

The force of the kindness of others is so strong, we can't possibly measure it.

Since all things are empty of inherent existence, anything is possible. If things had inherent existence, nothing would be possible.

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

The nature of life is change. The nature of change is painful. The nature of pain is temporary.

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.

When we understand others, we understand ourselves. When we love others, we love ourselves.

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

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

Peace is not found by changing the world, but by changing your attitude to the world.

We need the courage to learn from our experience and the wisdom to be willing to change and grow.

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.

The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.

True freedom is a freedom from the tyranny of our own thoughts and afflictive emotions.

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

The first step toward faith is to admit that we don't know everything.

If you want to know the past, look at the present. If you want to know the future, look at the present.

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

True happiness is born of letting go of what is unnecessary.

Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.

Don't try to change the world. First, change yourself.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

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

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived, how well we have loved, how well we have learned to let go.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

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.

The Four Noble Truths are not mere doctrinal propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our lives.

The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self.

Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway.

The nature of mind is clearer than the sky, yet we keep looking elsewhere.

Face your own anger and you will be free from anger. Face your own fears and you will be free from fear.

Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

The practice of ethics is not about following rules but about developing inner purity and freedom.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

Right View is not just a matter of intellectual understanding but of seeing things as they really are.

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

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