Better to have one moment of genuine meditation than to perform religious activities for a thousand years.

The root of suffering is resisting the certainty that no matter what the circumstances, uncertainty is all we truly have.

Right practice is steady practice. Whether you feel lazy or diligent, just keep practicing.

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

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

The highest mantra is to be without deception. The highest medicine is to have few desires. The highest meditation is not to be attached.

To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.

The one who grasps at existence suffers in samsara, while the one who grasps at non-existence will find no liberation.

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

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

Change is the nature of every phenomenon. Accept this truth and you will live a happy life.

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

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

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

The root of happiness is altruism — the wish to be of service to others.

The more we understand impermanence, the more we appreciate each moment of our lives.

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

The path of awakening is not about becoming who we think we should be, but about unbecoming who we are not.

The essence of Buddhism is not a belief system but a systematic investigation of our experience.

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

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

When you generate negativity, you are the first victim of your negativity.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

Enlightenment is not the end of change but the end of resistance to change.

Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

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

Our emotions are like waves in the ocean. We can't stop the waves, but we can learn to surf.

Our own life has to be our message.

Life is available only in the present moment.

Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.

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

It is never too late to turn on the light.

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

Genuine happiness comes from having developed basic human qualities, such as attention, emotional balance, and generosity.

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost.

The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.

Misery ceases to exist when we stop reacting to sensations.

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

The only way to experience truth is to look within, to observe oneself.

Love is the wish that others be happy, and compassion is the wish that they be free from suffering.

Love is not a feeling. It's a capability.

Silence is sometimes the best answer.

Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

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

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

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

The perfect moment is this one, not the one you're waiting for.

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

Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one's own acts, done and undone.

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

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

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

Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.

The precious pot containing my riches becomes my teacher in the very moment it breaks.

To see directly is to be free of hope and fear. Hope and fear are like a cloud before the sun.

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

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

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.

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.