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

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.

Your mind is like a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.

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

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

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

When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight.

The spiritual journey begins with the recognition that beneath our surface happiness there lies a deep inner pain.

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.

A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

If you want to find peace, then look at that point where you find you're dissatisfied and investigate what's really going on.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

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

The victorious ones have said that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incurable.

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

The most important factor in achieving happiness is the mind. Happiness and suffering are mental states and therefore depend on the mind.

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

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.

Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.

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

Face your own anger and you will be free from anger. Face your own fears and you will be free from fear.

The goal of Buddhist practice is not to escape from the world but to transform our relationship with it.

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.

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

The everyday practice is simply to develop complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions.

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

Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.

The grass is greener where you water it.

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

The practice of mindfulness leads naturally to concentration. Concentration leads naturally to wisdom.

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

We need the courage to learn from our experience and the wisdom to be willing to change and grow.

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

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

The Buddha's teachings are not a religion, but a science of mind.

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

Meditation is like catching a fish. If you try to catch it quickly, you'll miss it. If you have patience and know how to wait, the fish will come.

Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

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

The superior person is like water, bringing benefit to all without competing.

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

The obstacle is the path.

The more you understand yourself, the more you understand the world.

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

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

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense.

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.

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

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

The key to the Buddha's teaching is not grasping, not trying to hold onto things that are essentially impermanent and unstable.

It is never too late to turn on the light.

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

The great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.