The practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

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

Happiness is found in the simplest of things. It is not in the things you own, but in the love you share.

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

The development of insight is gradual, but the realization of truth is sudden.

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

When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.

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

The biggest prison is the one we build in our own mind.

Vipassana is the art of living. Not the art of escaping.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

The path to liberation requires both individual effort and the support of the spiritual community.

When dharma fills your body and mind, you realize that something is missing.

Conquer anger with non-anger. Conquer evil with good. Conquer stinginess with giving. Conquer deceit with truth.

Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead, it's about becoming more fully human.

The Dhamma is not a collection of doctrinal formulas but a path leading to direct insight into the nature of reality.

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

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

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

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

In the spring, hundreds of flowers; in autumn, a harvest moon; in the summer, a refreshing breeze; in winter, snow will accompany you. If useless things do not hang in your mind, any season is a good season for you.

The menu is not the meal.

Through continuous mindfulness practice, the true nature of physical and mental phenomena becomes clear.

There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana. There is no difference at all between nirvana and samsara.

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

There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen. Even though you read much Zen literature, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind.

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

The Noble Eightfold Path is a path of training: training in ethical conduct, training in mental discipline, and training in wisdom.

When concentration is developed, wisdom arises. When wisdom arises, one becomes disenchanted with the five aggregates.

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.

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

Mindfulness is being aware of what is happening right now, without wishing it were different.

The mind is intrinsically empty. It's empty of all that we perceive as being intrinsically "me" and "mine."

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway.

Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words are fruitless in a man who does not act in accordance with them.

Every thought, every word, and every action leaves an imprint on our mind.

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

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

The nature of mind is not something we need to achieve - it's something we need to recognize.

The restraint of the senses is not a matter of suppression but of wise attention to our experience.

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

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

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.

Compassion is not just about being kind to others. It's about being kind to ourselves as well.

Just to be alive is enough.

The nature of mind is clearer than the sky, yet we keep looking elsewhere.

When things fall apart and we're on the verge of we know not what, the test of each of us is to stay on that brink and not concretize.

The Buddha's path is not about becoming somebody different but about becoming more and more who you really are.

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

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

When you note pain, you are not trying to make it go away. You are trying to understand its true nature.