The dharma is not about collecting more beliefs but about becoming free from the power of belief itself.

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

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.

The secret of happiness is to want what you already have.

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

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

The Four Noble Truths are not merely theoretical propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our experience.

The only thing that we truly have control over is our attitude toward experience.

The mind is like water. When it's turbulent, it's difficult to see. When it's calm, everything becomes clear.

If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look into your present actions.

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.

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

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

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.

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help.

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

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

Those who understand interdependent origination understand suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

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

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

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

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

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.

When concentration is developed, wisdom arises. When wisdom arises, one becomes disenchanted with the five aggregates.

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

Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.

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

The force of the kindness of others is so strong, we can't possibly measure it.

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.

Life is available only in the present moment.

Insight knowledge comes from direct experience, not from intellectual understanding.

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

Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.

When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet it.

Personal experience is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

Neither from itself nor from another, nor from both, nor without a cause, does anything whatever, anywhere arise.

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.

The path to liberation requires both individual effort and the support of the spiritual community.

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

In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

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

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.

True happiness is not found through the multiplication of desires but through their simplification.

The only things that are truly mine are my actions and their results.

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 nature of mind is not something we need to achieve - it's something we need to recognize.

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

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

Our basic nature is pure awareness that simply cognizes experience. Everything else is temporary and adventitious.

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

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

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

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

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.

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.

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

When I run from suffering, it follows me. When I face suffering with equanimity, it runs from me.

To be attached to a thing means that mind and the thing meet and grow into each other.