The stages of insight unfold naturally when mindfulness is continuous. There is no need to desire them or try to make them happen.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

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

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

Happiness is not the pursuit of an endless succession of experiences but an attitude toward life.

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

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

Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.

Your own treasure house contains everything you need; why search outside?

Our own life has to be our message.

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

The three characteristics - impermanence, suffering, and non-self - are not philosophical concepts but aspects of experience to be directly observed.

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

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.

When you walk in the mist, you get wet.

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.

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

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

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

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

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

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.

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

The six realms of existence are like a dream, why build a prison for yourself?

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

For whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible. For whom emptiness is not possible, nothing is possible.

To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.

The ultimate revolution is the spiritual revolution, where we learn to see reality as it truly is.

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

The mind is the forerunner of all things. Our present life is the result of our past thoughts, and our future life will be the result of our present thoughts.

Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves.

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

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

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

The root of all suffering is ignorance. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom that realizes emptiness.

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

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

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

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

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

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

True peace is found not in the absence of experience but in the clear seeing of all experience.

Mindfulness isn't difficult, we just need to remember to do it.

Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.

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

The willingness to empty ourselves and then seek our true nature is an expression of great and courageous love.

The defilements of the mind are temporary visitors. Pure awareness is your true home.

The more you give, the more you have. That's the economics of kindness.

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

The door of your heart can only be opened from the inside.

Start from where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

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

Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

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

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

Don't be a bodhisatta; don't be an arahant; don't be anything at all. Being something makes you suffer.

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.

The superior person is like water, bringing benefit to all without competing.