The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

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

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

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

Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.

The superior person is like water, bringing benefit to all without competing.

The goal of the Buddhist path is not to add something to our existence but to discover something that has been there all along.

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

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

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words are fruitless in a man who does not act in accordance with them.

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

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

Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead, it's about becoming more fully human.

Time passes unhindered. When we make ourselves better, we make the world better.

Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

The nature of mind is not something we need to achieve - it's something we need to recognize.

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

The menu is not the meal.

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

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 only way to experience truth is to look within, to observe oneself.

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

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

The knowledge of dissolution comes when you see both the noting mind and noted object dissolving together.

Many people think excitement is happiness... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.

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

True happiness is not found through the multiplication of desires but through their simplification.

The dharma is not about collecting more beliefs but about becoming free from the power of belief itself.

Real happiness lies within. It cannot be found in external objects or achievements.

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

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

When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight.

Freedom is not found in the absence of difficulty, but in our relationship to it.

Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.

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

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.

You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can't solve your own doubts. Investigate yourself to find the truth - inside, not outside.

When you let go of trying to control everything, you can relax and enjoy life.

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

Neither from itself nor from another, nor from both, nor without a cause, does anything whatever, anywhere arise.

The great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

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

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

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

The mind is the forerunner of all things. Our present life is the result of our past thoughts, and our future life will be the result of our present thoughts.

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

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

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

The Four Noble Truths are not mere doctrinal propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our lives.

The key to the Buddha's teaching is not grasping, not trying to hold onto things that are essentially impermanent and unstable.

The purpose of meditation is not to create a new state of mind, but to recognize what is already present.

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

The nature of life is change. The nature of change is painful. The nature of pain is temporary.

Personal experience is everything in Zen. No ideas are intelligible to those who have no backing of experience.

When you love someone, you have to have trust and confidence. Love without trust is not yet love.

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

The movement of love is what creates the beauty in our lives.

Insight knowledge comes from direct experience, not from intellectual understanding.

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