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

The way to change the world is to change your own mind.

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

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

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.

There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.

Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.

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

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.

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

The path to liberation is through understanding the true nature of mind and matter through direct observation.

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

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 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 more you give, the more you have. That's the economics of kindness.

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

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

The more you understand yourself, the more you understand the world.

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

If you want to know your past life, look at your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.

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

The goal of the Buddhist path is not to add something to our existence but to discover something that has been there all along.

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

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

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

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

Study the Buddha's teaching which is present in every moment.

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

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.

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

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

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to reduce our selfishness and to work for the benefit of others.

The path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.

The signs of practice are not in extraordinary experiences but in extraordinary awareness of ordinary experiences.

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 nature of the mind is like the sky, and our thoughts, emotions, and experiences are like clouds passing through it.

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

The superior person is like water, bringing benefit to all without competing.

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

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

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

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

The restraint of the senses is not a matter of suppression but of wise attention to our experience.

Many people think excitement is happiness... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.

Self-awareness is the key to freedom. The more we understand ourselves, the more we understand how to be free.

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

The mind that sees its own nature becomes free from all extremes.

Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that's all that's happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction. On the other hand, wretchedness--life's painful aspect--softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person.

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.

Real freedom is not about controlling our experience, but about being free within our experience.

The ocean does not reject any water; therefore it is great. The mountain does not select its stones; therefore it is great.

Faith is the firm foundation, diligence the supporting pillar, and wisdom the roof of the house of practice.

Panic is a gateway to wisdom. When we learn to stay present with our panic, it becomes our teacher.

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

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.

Mindfulness is the key to the present moment. Without it we cannot see the world clearly, and we cannot make the wisest choices in our lives.

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

Happiness is not about getting what you want, but wanting what you've got.