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

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

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

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

All that appears and exists, all of samsara and nirvana, has one ground, two paths, and two results. This is the magical display of awareness and unawareness.

Dependent origination is not a theory about the origin of the world but a teaching that shows how suffering originates in dependence on our own mental processes.

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

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

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

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

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

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

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

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.

The true mark of a spiritual practitioner is that your own behavior is better, not that you can criticize others well.

The more we understand impermanence, the more we understand that we can't hold on to anything.

The heart of one who practices is like the earth. No matter what they throw on it, the earth remains unchanged.

External seeking only leads to exhaustion. When you imitate others, you lose your own authenticity.

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.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.

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

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

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

The first noble truth of the Buddha is that life contains suffering. The second noble truth is that the cause of suffering is craving.

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

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

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

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

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.

The purpose of life is to be happy, to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is not to be well known, cited, or powerful.

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

Even if you speak of 'understanding,' this understanding is not a matter of knowledge. It is what fills the entire body and mind.

The past is gone, the future is not yet here. Live in the present moment with awareness.

The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery.

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

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

Suffering is not the end of the story; it is the middle of the story.

The five aggregates are not a theoretical model but a description of lived experience to be investigated through mindfulness.

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

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

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

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

Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher.

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

When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet it.

When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.

Mindfulness is not just bare attention but wise attention that leads to understanding and insight.

The practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

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

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.

Our own life has to be our message.

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

Compassion is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.

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

The teaching of the Buddha is based on two truths: conventional truth and ultimate truth. Without understanding the relationship between these two, the deeper meaning of the Buddha's teaching cannot be understood.

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

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

The development of wisdom requires both study and practice, both learning and direct experience.

The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.