Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

Those who understand interdependent origination understand suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

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.

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

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

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

There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way.

Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that's all that's happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction. On the other hand, wretchedness--life's painful aspect--softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person.

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

The way we look at the world is the way the world looks.

True peace comes not from controlling the world, but from letting go of control.

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

Just to be alive is enough.

The practice is not about achieving special states but about seeing ordinary experience with extraordinary clarity.

The key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear and suspicion.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

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

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.

The more you understand, the more you love; the more you love, the more you understand.

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

Don't be afraid of the future. The future is good.

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

Recognize the emptiness of all phenomena, but do not become attached to emptiness itself.

True freedom is not the absence of commitment but the presence of choice.

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

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

Mind training is based on the idea that two opposite mental factors cannot happen at the same time.

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

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

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

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

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

Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us.

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

The nature of life is change. The nature of change is painful. The nature of pain is temporary.

When you find your place where you are, practice occurs, actualizing the fundamental point.

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

The lamp of wisdom burns constantly, illuminating the nature of mind.

If you want to find peace, then look at that point where you find you're dissatisfied and investigate what's really going on.

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

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

When I run from suffering, it follows me. When I face suffering with equanimity, it runs from me.

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.

We can learn to be present with whatever is happening in our lives, and in this way, we can begin to transform our relationship to difficulty.

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

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

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

The most important factor in achieving happiness is the mind. Happiness and suffering are mental states and therefore depend on the mind.

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

The person who clings to nothing of the past, present and future, who has no attachment and no aversion, has no conceptual imprints.

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

Freedom is not found in the absence of difficulty, but in our relationship to it.

Understanding at the intellectual level is not enough. There must be experience at the actual level.

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