The spiritual journey begins with the recognition that beneath our surface happiness there lies a deep inner pain.

The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

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.

True happiness is not about getting rid of all our problems, but about changing our relationship to them.

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

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

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

Neither from itself nor from another, nor from both, nor without a cause, does anything whatever, anywhere arise.

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

When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.

Forgiveness is not a moral issue. It's a power issue. When we hold onto grievance and resentment, we are giving our power away.

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

Every being has the potential of becoming a Buddha. Our true nature is Buddha nature.

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

The secret of happiness lies not in getting what we want, but in learning to want what we already have.

Conquer anger with non-anger. Conquer evil with good. Conquer stinginess with giving. Conquer deceit with truth.

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

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

Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.

The only things that are truly mine are my actions and their results.

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.

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

If you want to find peace, then look at that point where you find you're dissatisfied and investigate what's really going on.

The Buddha's teaching challenges us to master the art of living, to live in a way that leads to the extinction of suffering.

The measure of success in spiritual life is how peaceful you are.

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.

What Zen wants us to do is to acquire an entirely new point of view whereby to look into the mysteries of life and the secrets of nature.

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

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

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

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

The key to the Buddha's teaching is not grasping, not trying to hold onto things that are essentially impermanent and unstable.

Life is like a cup of tea. It's all in how you make it.

True peace is found not in the absence of experience but in the clear seeing of all experience.

Liberation is found in the practice, not in the theory.

Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

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

Recognize the emptiness of all phenomena, but do not become attached to emptiness itself.

True freedom is not the absence of commitment but the presence of choice.

The path is the goal. Every step of the journey is the journey.

Misery ceases to exist when we stop reacting to sensations.

Just to be alive is enough.

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

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

The nature of mind is not something we need to achieve - it's something we need to recognize.

The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently. Patiently and persistently. And you're bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.

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

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

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.

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.

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

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

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

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

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

Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, wisdom arises naturally as we open our hearts to the truth of what is.