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

The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.

The farther you enter into truth, the deeper it is.

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

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

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

Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.

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

The signs of practice are not in extraordinary experiences but in extraordinary awareness of ordinary experiences.

Every step on the path must be with the understanding of anicca - impermanence. This is the essence of the teaching.

When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.

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

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

The more we understand impermanence, the more we understand that we can't hold on to anything.

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

True happiness is not about getting rid of all our problems, but about changing our relationship to them.

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

The movement of love is what creates the beauty in our lives.

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.

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

The essence of the spiritual journey is the uncovering of what is always already present.

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

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

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.

Not by hatred is hatred conquered, but by love alone. This is an eternal law.

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

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel.

Mindfulness is not just bare attention but wise attention that leads to understanding and insight.

Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves.

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

External seeking only leads to exhaustion. When you imitate others, you lose your own authenticity.

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.

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

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

Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking.

The defilements of the mind are temporary visitors. Pure awareness is your true home.

It is never too late to turn on the light.

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

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

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.

It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.

Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.

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

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.

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced state of mind.

Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently. Patiently and persistently. And you're bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.

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.

True peace is found not in the absence of experience but in the clear seeing of all experience.

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

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.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma - the way to liberation - which is universal.

Right View is not just a matter of intellectual understanding but of seeing things as they really are.

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

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back, and reasons to stay.

True love is not for the faint-hearted.