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

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

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

The path of awakening is not about becoming who we think we should be, but about unbecoming who we are not.

The way to change the world is to change your own mind.

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

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 nature of mind is clearer than the sky, yet we keep looking elsewhere.

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

All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death.

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

The ocean does not reject any water; therefore it is great. The mountain does not select its stones; therefore it is great.

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

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

The signs of practice are not in extraordinary experiences but in extraordinary awareness of ordinary experiences.

When one sees with wisdom that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, one is liberated from suffering.

Change is possible because there is nothing inherently permanent about our disturbing emotions.

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

Zen proposes its solution by directly appealing to facts of personal experience and not to book-knowledge.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to bring everything onto the path. Every experience becomes an opportunity for awakening.

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

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

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

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

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

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

The past is for learning from, not for living in.

In the gap between thoughts, nonconceptual wisdom shines continuously.

External phenomena are like a dream, whatever appears is not real. Recognize the nature of dream-like phenomena to be dream-like.

Observe the reality as it is, not as you wish it to be.

The world is its own magic.

We can learn the art of fierce compassion - redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking.

The obstacle is the path.

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

The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind.

The Four Noble Truths are not merely theoretical propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our experience.

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.

Don't try to push away the darkness. Just light a lamp. The darkness will disappear by itself.

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

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

Although all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, they function perfectly well.

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

Enlightenment is not about becoming something special, but about realizing what we already are.

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

The root of suffering is attachment.

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

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

The heart of one who practices is like the earth. No matter what they throw on it, the earth remains unchanged.

Mindfulness means keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality.

Generosity generates its own enthusiasm. We don't have to force ourselves to be generous; we just need to start.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

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

Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.

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.