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

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

The root of happiness is altruism — the wish to be of service to others.

We practice to learn how to let go, not how to increase our holding on to things.

The menu is not the meal.

The mind that notes and the object that is noted are both impermanent. Understanding this leads to liberation.

Your own treasure house contains everything you need; why search outside?

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

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

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.

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.

Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking.

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

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.

The development of wisdom does not occur in isolation but requires the cultivation of the entire Noble Eightfold Path.

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

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

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

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

To what shall I compare this life? It is like a boat that left at dawn, leaving no trace.

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

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.

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

The path to liberation is through understanding the true nature of mind and matter through direct observation.

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

The difference between buddhas and sentient beings is that buddhas recognize their nature while sentient beings fail to recognize it.

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

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

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

Our defilements are like tame tigers. If you feed them, they're tame. If you stop feeding them, they'll eat you up.

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

A pure mind is always full of love - real love for all others.

When things fall apart and we're on the verge of we know not what, the test of each of us is to stay on that brink and not concretize.

The practice of mindfulness is the practice of being alive in the present moment.

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

Zen is not necessarily against words, but it is well aware of their limitations.

People who study a lot but don't practice are like a ladle in a soup pot. It's in the soup every day, but it doesn't know the taste of the soup.

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.

In the moment of pure noting, there is no self - only the knowing and the known.

When we recognize that our thoughts are just thoughts, we can choose whether or not to follow them.

Zen is a way of life, not a theory or a piece of knowledge to be stored away in our minds.

Conquer anger with non-anger. Conquer evil with good. Conquer stinginess with giving. Conquer deceit with truth.

The first step toward faith is to admit that we don't know everything.

The root of suffering is attachment.

Right practice is steady practice. Whether you feel lazy or diligent, just keep practicing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

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

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

Change is the nature of every phenomenon. Accept this truth and you will live a happy life.

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

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

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.

The five aggregates are not a theoretical model but a description of lived experience to be investigated through mindfulness.