We deal with our mind from morning until evening, and it can be our best friend or our worst enemy.

The secret of happiness lies not in getting what we want, but in learning to want what we already have.

Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.

Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.

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

Our true nature is like a diamond - pure, brilliant, and indestructible. No matter how much dirt covers it, its essential nature remains unchanged.

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.

The path to liberation is through understanding the true nature of mind and matter through direct observation.

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.

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

We can learn the art of fierce compassion - redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking.

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help.

Panic is a gateway to wisdom. When we learn to stay present with our panic, it becomes our teacher.

The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes.

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.

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.

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

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

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

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

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

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

The path is not about moving from one place to another. It's about recognizing where we already are.

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

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

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

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

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

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

The person who clings to nothing of the past, present and future, who has no attachment and no aversion, has no conceptual imprints.

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

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

The path to liberation requires both understanding and practice, both pariyatti and patipatti.

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

We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

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

You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.

The development of wisdom does not occur in isolation but requires the cultivation of the entire Noble Eightfold Path.

To live is enough.

To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don't need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.

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

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

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

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

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

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

Every being has the potential of becoming a Buddha. Our true nature is Buddha nature.

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

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

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

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

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

Don't be afraid of the future. The future is good.

Zen is not necessarily against words, but it is well aware of their limitations.

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

There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.

The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.

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