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

The law of nature is the law of cause and effect. As you sow, so shall you reap.

Meditation is like catching a fish. If you try to catch it quickly, you'll miss it. If you have patience and know how to wait, the fish will come.

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.

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

True love is not for the faint-hearted.

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

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

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

The entire path is a path of self-responsibility. Nobody else can walk it for you.

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

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

Wisdom and compassion must be developed equally and harmoniously.

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

The Buddha's teaching challenges us to master the art of living, to live in a way that leads to the extinction of suffering.

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

The Buddha's teachings are not about abandoning our lives but about bringing the fullness of our attention to our lives.

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

Even if you speak of 'understanding,' this understanding is not a matter of knowledge. It is what fills the entire body and mind.

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

Vipassana is the art of living. Not the art of escaping.

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

The deepest happiness comes from having an enduring sense of purpose, one that gives our lives meaning beyond the endless pursuit of pleasure and success.

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

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

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

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

The practice is not about achieving special states but about seeing ordinary experience with extraordinary clarity.

The treasure house within you contains everything, and you are free to use it. You don't need to seek outside.

Mindfulness is being aware of what's going on, not trying to control what's going on.

The practice of mindfulness leads naturally to concentration. Concentration leads naturally to wisdom.

Forgiveness is not a moral issue. It's a power issue. When we hold onto grievance and resentment, we are giving our power away.

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

The world is its own magic.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

The more you suffer the deeper grows your character, and with the deepening of your character you read the more penetratingly into the secrets of life.

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

Mindfulness is not just bare attention but wise attention that leads to understanding and insight.

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

Don't try to change the world. First, change yourself.

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.

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

A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.

The more you understand, the more you love; the more you love, the more you understand.

The real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

The only thing that we truly have control over is our attitude toward experience.

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.

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

The five aggregates are not a theoretical model but a description of lived experience to be investigated through mindfulness.

If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.

Knowledge must be stabilized by meditation. Without meditation, knowledge is like a child in battle.

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

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.

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

Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the "support," of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached.

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

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

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

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