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

The way we look at the world is the way the world looks.

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

Just to be alive is enough.

When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.

The Buddha's teaching challenges us to master the art of living, to live in a way that leads to the extinction of suffering.

Not by hatred is hatred conquered, but by love alone. This is an eternal law.

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

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

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

If you want to climb a mountain, begin at the top.

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

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

In the spring, hundreds of flowers; in autumn, a harvest moon; in the summer, a refreshing breeze; in winter, snow will accompany you. If useless things do not hang in your mind, any season is a good season for you.

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

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

The more you understand, the more you love; the more you love, the more you understand.

The menu is not the meal.

You are the master of your own mind. You can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

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

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

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

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.

The lamp of wisdom burns constantly, illuminating the nature of mind.

The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self.

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.

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

Real happiness comes from having an unshakable connection to the deep wellspring of peace and happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.

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

Craving and aversion are the roots of suffering. Observe them with equanimity.

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 past is for learning from, not for living in.

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

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

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

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

Zen proposes its solution by directly appealing to facts of personal experience and not to book-knowledge.

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

Love is not a feeling. It's a capability.

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

When you recognize that pain and suffering are impermanent, you become free.

The practice is like peeling an onion. Layer after layer of delusion is removed through continuous mindfulness.

Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.

The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

Do not mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization for liberation.

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.

The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay the practice of meditation.

Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what's happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what's happening.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind.

The realization of impermanence leads not to despair but to a deeper appreciation of the preciousness of each moment.

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