By understanding emptiness, one understands all phenomena. Without understanding emptiness, one understands nothing.

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

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

When mindfulness and concentration are strong, insight into the three characteristics naturally unfolds.

The nature of life is change. The nature of change is painful. The nature of pain is temporary.

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

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

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

Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.

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

The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought.

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

The root of all suffering is ignorance. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom that realizes emptiness.

Every being has the potential of becoming a Buddha. Our true nature is Buddha nature.

Just as true humor is laughter at oneself, true humanity is knowledge of oneself.

If you want to know the past, look at the present. If you want to know the future, look at the present.

If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.

The grass is greener where you water it.

The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.

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

The purpose of our lives is to be happy, and happiness is found in benefiting others.

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

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

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

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

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

The mind creates the abyss, and the heart crosses it.

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

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

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

Forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past could have been any different.

Start from where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

Our true nature is like a diamond - pure, brilliant, and indestructible. No matter how much dirt covers it, its essential nature remains unchanged.

When we know the truth, we become people who don't have to think much, we become people with wisdom.

The true mark of a spiritual practitioner is that your own behavior is better, not that you can criticize others well.

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

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

The door of your heart can only be opened from the inside.

All that appears and exists, all of samsara and nirvana, has one ground, two paths, and two results. This is the magical display of awareness and unawareness.

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

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

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 true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

Time passes unhindered. When we make ourselves better, we make the world better.

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

Don't try to change the world. First, change yourself.

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

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

Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.

Observe the reality as it is, not as you wish it to be.

When one sees with wisdom that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, one is liberated from suffering.

Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.

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

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

When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength.

Don't be a bodhisatta; don't be an arahant; don't be anything at all. Being something makes you suffer.

There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way.

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