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

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

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.

The farther you enter into truth, the deeper it is.

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

Every thought, every word, and every action leaves an imprint on our mind.

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

The real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

True freedom is a freedom from the tyranny of our own thoughts and afflictive emotions.

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

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

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

Liberation is not found by running away from our experience but by looking deeply into it.

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

Panic, anxiety, and stress are not obstacles to the practice. They are the path to wisdom and compassion.

Happiness is found in the simplest of things. It is not in the things you own, but in the love you share.

The path is the goal. Every step of the journey is the journey.

When you let go of trying to control everything, you can relax and enjoy life.

You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.

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

The nature of everything is illusory and ephemeral, those with dualistic perception regard suffering as happiness, like they who lick the honey from a razor's edge.

The mind is the forerunner of all things. Our present life is the result of our past thoughts, and our future life will be the result of our present thoughts.

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

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

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

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

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

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

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

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

If you want to understand suffering, you must look into the situation at hand. The teachings say that wherever a problem arises it must be settled right there.

The best way to solve a problem is to help someone else solve their problem.

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

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

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

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

When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point.

Mindfulness means keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality.

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

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

The development of insight is gradual, but the realization of truth is sudden.

Sensations are not your enemy. They are your teacher. Through observing them, you understand the truth of existence.

The Buddha's path is not about becoming somebody different but about becoming more and more who you really are.

The knowledge of dissolution comes when you see both the noting mind and noted object dissolving together.

Mindfulness isn't difficult, we just need to remember to do it.

The purpose of a spiritual discipline is to give us a way to stop the war, not by our force of will, but through understanding and through letting go.

Although all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, they function perfectly well.

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

In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived, how well we have loved, how well we have learned to let go.

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

The trouble is, you think you have time.

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

Mind training is based on the idea that two opposite mental factors cannot happen at the same time.

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.

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that's really swell.