People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

The law of nature is the law of cause and effect. As you sow, so shall you reap.

Real peace comes from seeing things as they really are, not as we want them to be.

Karma is not fate but the law of moral causation, showing us that we are the architects of our own destiny.

Buddhist practice is not to eliminate life's problems but to grow with them patiently and with compassion.

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

Each of you is perfect the way you are... and you can use a little improvement.

The ultimate revolution is the spiritual revolution, where we learn to see reality as it truly is.

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

My religion is to live and die without regret.

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

Those who understand interdependent origination understand suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

The Buddha's teaching is not about belief but about investigation, not about accepting but about examining.

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

The victorious ones have said that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incurable.

Altruism is not a luxury, it is a necessity for the survival of humanity.

The person who clings to nothing of the past, present and future, who has no attachment and no aversion, has no conceptual imprints.

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

Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts.

The Buddha's teachings are not a religion, but a science of mind.

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death.

In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

Compassion is not just about being kind to others. It's about being kind to ourselves as well.

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

Not by hatred is hatred conquered, but by love alone. This is an eternal law.

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.

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

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

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

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

The nature of everything is illusory and ephemeral, those with dualistic perception regard suffering as happiness, like they who lick the honey from a razor's edge.

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

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.

When I run from suffering, it follows me. When I face suffering with equanimity, it runs from me.

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

Our true nature is like a diamond - pure, brilliant, and indestructible. No matter how much dirt covers it, its essential nature remains unchanged.

True peace comes not from controlling the world, but from letting go of control.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

When one sees with wisdom that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, one is liberated from suffering.

Real happiness lies within. It cannot be found in external objects or achievements.

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.

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense.

Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.

The everyday practice is simply to develop complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions.

Misery ceases to exist when we stop reacting to sensations.

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

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

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

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.

As surely as there is a voyage away, there is a journey home.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Every intelligent individual wants to know what makes him tick, and yet is at once fascinated and frustrated by the fact that oneself is the most difficult of all things to know.

The Buddha taught us to leave alone the things that don't lead to awakening.

Not knowing how near the truth is, we seek it far away.

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

External phenomena are like a dream, whatever appears is not real. Recognize the nature of dream-like phenomena to be dream-like.

If you want to climb a mountain, begin at the top.