Craving and aversion are the roots of suffering. Observe them with equanimity.

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

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.

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

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

Be happy at the moment, that's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.

The water in the ocean can be rough or calm. It can be clear or murky. But the water itself doesn't mind.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

The first step toward faith is to admit that we don't know everything.

Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self.

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

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

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

The most important factor in achieving happiness is the mind. Happiness and suffering are mental states and therefore depend on the mind.

When we understand others, we understand ourselves. When we love others, we love ourselves.

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

Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking.

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.

When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.

The highest mantra is to be without deception. The highest medicine is to have few desires. The highest meditation is not to be attached.

The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.

If you want to climb a mountain, begin at the top.

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

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.

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 world is its own magic.

Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.

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

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.

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

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

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

Recognize the emptiness of all phenomena, but do not become attached to emptiness itself.

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

True peace comes not from controlling the world, but from letting go of control.

When you generate negativity, you are the first victim of your negativity.

Love is not a feeling. It's a capability.

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.

The purpose of meditation is to gain right understanding of the true nature of mental and physical phenomena.

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

To live is enough.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

Silence is sometimes the best answer.

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

Every thought, every word, and every action leaves an imprint on our mind.

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

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

By understanding emptiness, one understands all phenomena. Without understanding emptiness, one understands nothing.

When we know the truth, we become people who don't have to think much, we become people with wisdom.

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.

Understanding at the intellectual level is not enough. There must be experience at the actual level.

Those who understand interdependent origination understand suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

The mind itself is the maker of all happiness and misery; yet beings do not understand this and blame external conditions.

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

The trouble is, you think you have time.

To understand everything is to forgive everything.

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.