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.

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.

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

Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

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

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

The past is gone, the future is not yet here. Live in the present moment with awareness.

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost.

Study the Buddha's teaching which is present in every moment.

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.

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

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

Do not mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization for liberation.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

Just to be alive is enough.

Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.

The nature of everything is illusory and ephemeral, those with dualistic perception regard suffering as happiness, like they who lick the honey from a razor's edge.

Each of you is perfect the way you are... and you can use a little improvement.

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

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

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

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

The practice of mindfulness leads naturally to concentration. Concentration leads naturally to wisdom.

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what's happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what's happening.

In my youth I studied, in my prime I practiced, now all my doubts are cleared.

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

Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, wisdom arises naturally as we open our hearts to the truth of what is.

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

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

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

Our emotions are like waves in the ocean. We can't stop the waves, but we can learn to surf.

The more we understand impermanence, the more we appreciate each moment of our lives.

To be in harmony with the wholeness of things is not to have anxiety over imperfection.

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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.

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

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

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

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.

We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

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 art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

The nature of the mind is like the sky, and our thoughts, emotions, and experiences are like clouds passing through it.

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

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.

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