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

Buddhist practice is not to eliminate life's problems but to grow with them patiently and with compassion.

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

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

Genuine happiness comes from having developed basic human qualities, such as attention, emotional balance, and generosity.

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.

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

Liberation is found in the practice, not in the theory.

Through violence, you may solve one problem, but you sow the seeds for another.

We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree.

We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.

When the heart is still, it can be kind. When the mind is still, it can see clearly.

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

The root of suffering is resisting the certainty that no matter what the circumstances, uncertainty is all we truly have.

The more we understand impermanence, the more we appreciate each moment of our lives.

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

In the beginning, nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.

The more you understand impermanence, the more you appreciate every moment.

Every step on the path must be with the understanding of anicca - impermanence. This is the essence of the teaching.

The deepest form of happiness comes from discovering the natural peace of our own awareness.

Every moment is a fresh beginning. Every breath is a new chance.

True happiness is born of letting go of what is unnecessary.

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

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

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

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.

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

True freedom is not the absence of commitment but the presence of choice.

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

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

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

The more we understand our mind, the more we understand the world.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

The treasure house within you contains everything, and you are free to use it. You don't need to seek outside.

Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope - a slight change, and all patterns alter.

Life is nothing but a continuous chain of sensations. Pleasant or unpleasant, observe them objectively.

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

The past is for learning from, not for living in.

When we understand that peace is not dependent on external conditions, we can find it in the midst of any circumstance.

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment.

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

When dharma fills your body and mind, you realize that something is missing.

Real happiness lies within. It cannot be found in external objects or achievements.

Enlightenment is not the end of change but the end of resistance to change.

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

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

Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.

Silence is sometimes the best answer.

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

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.

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

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

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.

The world is its own magic.

The things that matter most in our lives are not fantastic or grand. They are the moments when we touch one another.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.

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