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 only way to experience truth is to look within, to observe oneself.

When mindfulness and concentration are strong, insight into the three characteristics naturally unfolds.

A pure mind is always full of love - real love for all others.

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

Genuine happiness comes from having developed basic human qualities, such as attention, emotional balance, and generosity.

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought.

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

The secret of happiness is to want what you already have.

Peace and negativity cannot coexist just as light and darkness cannot coexist.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

Wisdom arises when you see the true characteristics of phenomena through direct experience.

The deepest form of happiness comes from discovering the natural peace of our own awareness.

The Buddha taught us to leave alone the things that don't lead to awakening.

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.

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

Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope - a slight change, and all patterns alter.

Life is available only in the present moment.

Knowledge must be stabilized by meditation. Without meditation, knowledge is like a child in battle.

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.

When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight.

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

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

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

The mind is everything. What you think, you become.

The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.

To live is enough.

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

People who study a lot but don't practice are like a ladle in a soup pot. It's in the soup every day, but it doesn't know the taste of the soup.

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

The purpose of meditation is not to create a new state of mind, but to recognize what is already present.

The dharma is not outside of you. Looking for it elsewhere is like placing a Buddha on your head while searching for him everywhere else.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

In the moment of pure noting, there is no self - only the knowing and the known.

Not knowing how near the truth is, we seek it far away.

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

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

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

Real peace comes from seeing things as they really are, not as we want them to be.

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

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.

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

The dharma is not about collecting more beliefs but about becoming free from the power of belief itself.

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.

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.

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

When you love someone, you have to have trust and confidence. Love without trust is not yet love.

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

Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

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

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

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

The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.

The essence of meditation is not something complicated or exotic. It is simply taking a break from our habitual patterns.

Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.

Many people think excitement is happiness... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.