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

Enlightenment is the realization that we were never really separate from one another or from all of life.

To see directly is to be free of hope and fear. Hope and fear are like a cloud before the sun.

Zen is a way of life, not a theory or a piece of knowledge to be stored away in our minds.

The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.

Better to have one moment of genuine meditation than to perform religious activities for a thousand years.

The more precisely you note, the more clearly you understand. The more clearly you understand, the stronger your insight becomes.

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

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

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced state of mind.

In the beginning, nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

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

The purpose of our lives is to be happy, and happiness is found in benefiting others.

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind.

If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look into your present actions.

When we recognize that our thoughts are just thoughts, we can choose whether or not to follow them.

The mind is like a room with many windows. Open them all and let the fresh air in.

Real happiness comes from having an unshakable connection to the deep wellspring of peace and happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.

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

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

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

Zen proposes its solution by directly appealing to facts of personal experience and not to book-knowledge.

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

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

Change is the nature of every phenomenon. Accept this truth and you will live a happy life.

When one sees with wisdom that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, one is liberated from suffering.

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

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.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

The mind is like a well-forged sword - it adapts to all situations.

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

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

When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet it.

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

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

The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.

The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem.

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

If you want to know your past life, look at your present condition. If you want to know your future life, look at your present actions.

The essence of Buddhism is not a belief system but a systematic investigation of our experience.

The measure of success in spiritual life is how peaceful you are.

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

Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

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

What we learn about the world is colored by the way we approach it.

When you recognize that pain and suffering are impermanent, you become free.

The spiritual journey begins with the recognition that beneath our surface happiness there lies a deep inner pain.

Compassion is the radicalism of our time.

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

Silence is sometimes the best answer.

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

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

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.

Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.

If I had any position, I would thereby have a flaw. But since I have no position, I alone am without flaw.

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

When we understand that peace is not dependent on external conditions, we can find it in the midst of any circumstance.