Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

The mind is like a room with many windows. Open them all and let the fresh air in.

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

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

The first noble truth of the Buddha is that life contains suffering. The second noble truth is that the cause of suffering is craving.

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

It is never too late to turn on the light.

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

When you recognize that pain and suffering are impermanent, you become free.

The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem.

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

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

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.

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

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

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

Our own life has to be our message.

Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

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.

Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the "support," of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached.

Even if you speak of 'understanding,' this understanding is not a matter of knowledge. It is what fills the entire body and mind.

The realization of impermanence leads not to despair but to a deeper appreciation of the preciousness of each moment.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

The more you suffer the deeper grows your character, and with the deepening of your character you read the more penetratingly into the secrets of life.

Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts.

The essence of Buddhism is not a belief system but a systematic investigation of our experience.

Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks.

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.

The mind is like a well-forged sword - it adapts to all situations.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

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

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.

The truth of suffering is not to be feared but to be understood through direct observation.

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

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

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

To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.

The key to the Buddha's teaching is not grasping, not trying to hold onto things that are essentially impermanent and unstable.

Real happiness comes from having an unshakable connection to the deep wellspring of peace and happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.

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

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

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

My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantabhadri. I belong to the caste of non-duality of these two.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

External phenomena are like a dream, whatever appears is not real. Recognize the nature of dream-like phenomena to be dream-like.

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

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

When mindfulness becomes continuous, the distinction between the observer and the observed begins to break down.

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

The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that's really swell.

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

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

Mindfulness is the key to the present moment. Without it we cannot see the world clearly, and we cannot make the wisest choices in our lives.

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to reduce our selfishness and to work for the benefit of others.

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

The more precisely you note, the more clearly you understand. The more clearly you understand, the stronger your insight becomes.