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

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

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

The path of awakening is not about becoming who we think we should be, but about unbecoming who we are not.

Suffering comes from our resistance to what is. Peace comes from our acceptance of what is.

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

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

In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived, how well we have loved, how well we have learned to let go.

Our defilements are like tame tigers. If you feed them, they're tame. If you stop feeding them, they'll eat you up.

To be attached to a thing means that mind and the thing meet and grow into each other.

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

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

The Buddha's teachings are not a religion, but a science of mind.

Your mind is like a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.

Enlightenment is not the end of change but the end of resistance to change.

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

The world is its own magic.

Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.

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

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Real freedom is not about controlling our experience, but about being free within our experience.

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

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

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

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

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

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

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

The Buddha's teaching is not about belief but about investigation, not about accepting but about examining.

When the heart is still, it can be kind. When the mind is still, it can see clearly.

The heart of one who practices is like the earth. No matter what they throw on it, the earth remains unchanged.

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

The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay the practice of meditation.

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

Although all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, they function perfectly well.

Love is the wish that others be happy, and compassion is the wish that they be free from suffering.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

The path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.

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

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

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

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

The goal of Buddhist practice is not to escape from the world but to transform our relationship with it.

The root of suffering is not in the world outside us but in our own minds.

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 realization of impermanence leads not to despair but to a deeper appreciation of the preciousness of each moment.

Suffering is not the end of the story; it is the middle of the story.

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

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

Panic, anxiety, and stress are not obstacles to the practice. They are the path to wisdom and compassion.

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.