We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree.

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

The best way to solve a problem is to help someone else solve their problem.

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

If you want to understand suffering, you must look into the situation at hand. The teachings say that wherever a problem arises it must be settled right there.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

Buddhist practice is not to eliminate life's problems but to grow with them patiently and with compassion.

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

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

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

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

There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana. There is no difference at all between nirvana and samsara.

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

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

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense.

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

Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.

The Dhamma unfolds in accordance with a definite sequence: faith, virtue, learning, generosity, wisdom, and insight.

When I run from suffering, it follows me. When I face suffering with equanimity, it runs from me.

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

Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently. Patiently and persistently. And you're bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.

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

People who study a lot but don't practice are like a ladle in a soup pot. It's in the soup every day, but it doesn't know the taste of the soup.

The true mark of a spiritual practitioner is that your own behavior is better, not that you can criticize others well.

The three characteristics - impermanence, suffering, and non-self - are not philosophical concepts but aspects of experience to be directly observed.

Our own life has to be our message.

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

External seeking only leads to exhaustion. When you imitate others, you lose your own authenticity.

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

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

We practice to learn how to let go, not how to increase our holding on to things.

Each moment of clear seeing is a moment of freedom from the illusion of permanence, satisfaction, and self.

My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantabhadri. I belong to the caste of non-duality of these two.

The practice of meditation is not about achieving states of bliss but about seeing things as they really are.

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

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

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

The root of happiness is altruism — the wish to be of service to others.

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

Right View is not just a matter of intellectual understanding but of seeing things as they really are.

The development of wisdom requires both study and practice, both learning and direct experience.

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

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it.

Time passes unhindered. When we make mistakes, we cannot turn the clock back and try again. All we can do is use the present well.

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.

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

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

Karma is not fate but the law of moral causation, showing us that we are the architects of our own destiny.

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

The true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.

To be in harmony with the wholeness of things is not to have anxiety over imperfection.

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.

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.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one's own acts, done and undone.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

The farther you enter into truth, the deeper it is.

Compassion is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.