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

When you love someone, you have to have trust and confidence. Love without trust is not yet love.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

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

The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel.

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

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

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

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

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.

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

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

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

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace.

Don't be a bodhisatta; don't be an arahant; don't be anything at all. Being something makes you suffer.

The three characteristics - impermanence, suffering, and non-self - are not philosophical concepts but aspects of experience to be directly observed.

Through continuous mindfulness practice, the true nature of physical and mental phenomena becomes clear.

The Noble Eightfold Path is a path of training: training in ethical conduct, training in mental discipline, and training in wisdom.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

The menu is not the meal.

To see the truth, do not be for or against. The struggle between for and against is the mind's worst disease.

The more clearly you see the arising and passing of phenomena, the less you will be attached to them.

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes.

The water in the ocean can be rough or calm. It can be clear or murky. But the water itself doesn't mind.

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

The highest truth cannot be taught except through the conventional truth.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy. This is the goal of Buddhist practice.

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.

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.

The stages of insight unfold naturally when mindfulness is continuous. There is no need to desire them or try to make them happen.

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

The Four Noble Truths are not mere doctrinal propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our lives.

The secret of happiness is to want what you already have.

The essence of the spiritual journey is the uncovering of what is always already present.

Freedom is not found in the absence of difficulty, but in our relationship to it.

By understanding emptiness, one understands all phenomena. Without understanding emptiness, one understands nothing.

People who study a lot but don't practice are like a ladle in a soup pot. It's in the soup every day, but it doesn't know the taste of the soup.

The past is just a memory. The future is just a dream. Be here now.

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.

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

In the moment of pure noting, there is no self - only the knowing and the known.

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

The mind is like a room with many windows. Open them all and let the fresh air in.

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

The defilements of the mind are temporary visitors. Pure awareness is your true home.

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.

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

The silence between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

Just as true humor is laughter at oneself, true humanity is knowledge of oneself.

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

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

The practice of ethics is not about following rules but about developing inner purity and freedom.

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

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.