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

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

To live fully is to let go and die with each step.

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

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

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

The key to transformation is not to fight with our experience but to open to it with awareness.

When things fall apart and we're on the verge of we know not what, the test of each of us is to stay on that brink and not concretize.

Generosity generates its own enthusiasm. We don't have to force ourselves to be generous; we just need to start.

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

Silence is sometimes the best answer.

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

If you want to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be miserable, expect something in return.

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

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

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

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

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

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

Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.

The path to liberation requires both understanding and practice, both pariyatti and patipatti.

Loving-kindness is not something we need to manufacture. It's a natural expression of our awakened nature.

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

Meditation is not an escape from reality but a way to understand reality as it truly is.

Mindfulness is being aware of what's going on, not trying to control what's going on.

Don't try to push away the darkness. Just light a lamp. The darkness will disappear by itself.

The Dhamma unfolds in accordance with a definite sequence: faith, virtue, learning, generosity, wisdom, and insight.

We can learn the art of fierce compassion - redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking.

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

For whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible. For whom emptiness is not possible, nothing is possible.

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

It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.

There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen. Even though you read much Zen literature, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind.

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.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to bring everything onto the path. Every experience becomes an opportunity for awakening.

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

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

Happiness is not the pursuit of an endless succession of experiences but an attitude toward life.

We practice to learn how to let go, not how to increase our holding on to things.

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

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

Anxiety and excitement are the same emotion. The only difference is our attitude toward the experience.

The practice of mindfulness is the practice of being alive in the present moment.

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 mind is like a well-forged sword - it adapts to all situations.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

The entire path is a path of self-responsibility. Nobody else can walk it for you.

The truth of suffering is not to be feared but to be understood through direct observation.

Enlightenment is the realization that we were never really separate from one another or from all of life.

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

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

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem.

To what shall I compare this life? It is like a boat that left at dawn, leaving no trace.

Enlightenment is not about becoming something special, but about realizing what we already are.

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