The past is just a memory. The future is just a dream. Be here now.

The more we understand impermanence, the more we appreciate each moment of our lives.

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

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

In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

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

The root of suffering is attachment.

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

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.

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

When concentration is developed, wisdom arises. When wisdom arises, one becomes disenchanted with the five aggregates.

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

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

There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen. Even though you read much Zen literature, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind.

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

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

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

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

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

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

In the beginning, nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.

Mind training is based on the idea that two opposite mental factors cannot happen at the same time.

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.

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

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

The silence between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

What Zen wants us to do is to acquire an entirely new point of view whereby to look into the mysteries of life and the secrets of nature.

The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.

The Dhamma is not a collection of doctrinal formulas but a path leading to direct insight into the nature of reality.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.

Life is nothing but a continuous chain of sensations. Pleasant or unpleasant, observe them objectively.

Kindness is the solution to all of life's problems.

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

The mind is like water. When it's turbulent, it's difficult to see. When it's calm, everything becomes clear.

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

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

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

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

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.

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

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

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

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

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

When mindfulness becomes continuous, the distinction between the observer and the observed begins to break down.

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

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

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced state of mind.

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

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

The trick is to keep exploring and not bail out, even when we find out that something is not what we thought.

Dependent origination is not a theory about the origin of the world but a teaching that shows how suffering originates in dependence on our own mental processes.

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

The trouble is, you think you have time.

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

The Buddha taught that wealth does not bring happiness and security. The pursuit of wealth is a matter of living in balance.

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