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

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.

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

The more clearly you see the arising and passing of phenomena, the less you will be attached to them.

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

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

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

To understand everything is to forgive everything.

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

Karma is not fate but the law of moral causation, showing us that we are the architects of our own destiny.

There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.

The six realms of existence are like a dream, why build a prison for yourself?

Kindness is the solution to all of life's problems.

Since all things are empty of inherent existence, anything is possible. If things had inherent existence, nothing would be possible.

When we understand that peace is not dependent on external conditions, we can find it in the midst of any circumstance.

If you want to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be miserable, expect something in return.

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

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

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

Every moment of confusion is also a moment of wisdom, if we can learn to recognize it.

The path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.

Compassion is not mere sentiment but a powerful force that can transform both ourselves and others.

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

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

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced mind that sees things clearly without reaction.

Anxiety and excitement are the same emotion. The only difference is our attitude toward the experience.

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

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

Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

The mind is everything. What you think, you become.

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

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

The difference between being caught in thoughts and being mindful of thoughts is like the difference between being in a movie and watching a movie.

Trees, mountains, and vines all exist in nature according to their own truth. They are born and die following their nature. They remain this way because that's what they are. They don't practice meditation or do anything special.

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

The more we understand our mind, the more we understand the world.

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

Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.

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

The key to transformation is not to fight with our experience but to open to it with awareness.

Life is nothing but a continuous chain of sensations. Pleasant or unpleasant, observe them objectively.

The nature of all things is like a magical illusion, a mirage, a dream, a reflection of the moon in water.

The real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

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

The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.

Time passes unhindered. When we make mistakes, we cannot turn the clock back and try again. All we can do is use the present well.

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

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

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.

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.

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

The obstacle is the path.

The ocean does not reject any water; therefore it is great. The mountain does not select its stones; therefore it is great.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

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

The knowledge of dissolution comes when you see both the noting mind and noted object dissolving together.

The purpose of life is to be happy, to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is not to be well known, cited, or powerful.