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

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find 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 past is gone, the future is not yet here. Live in the present moment with awareness.

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.

Meditation is not an escape from reality but a way to understand reality as it truly is.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

The practice is like peeling an onion. Layer after layer of delusion is removed through continuous mindfulness.

True happiness is not about getting rid of all our problems, but about changing our relationship to them.

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

True peace comes not from controlling the world, but from letting go of control.

The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.

Every step on the path must be with the understanding of anicca - impermanence. This is the essence of the teaching.

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

Suffering comes from our resistance to what is. Peace comes from our acceptance of what is.

Self-awareness is the key to freedom. The more we understand ourselves, the more we understand how to be free.

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

What we learn about the world is colored by the way we approach it.

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

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

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

The goal of meditation is not to reach some highest place, but to remain in the place where you already are.

To live is enough.

The secret of happiness lies not in getting what we want, but in learning to want what we already have.

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.

It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.

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.

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

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

The first step toward faith is to admit that we don't know everything.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

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

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

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

Love is the wish that others be happy, and compassion is the wish that they be free from suffering.

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

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

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.

The snow lion stays in the mountains, and the snow lion's ways are the snow lion's ways.

Altruism is not a luxury, it is a necessity for the survival of humanity.

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 trouble is, you think you have time.

We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

The mind that notes and the object that is noted are both impermanent. Understanding this leads to liberation.

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

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

You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.

Your mind is like a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.

True happiness is born of letting go of what is unnecessary.

Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.

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.

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.

Anxiety and excitement are the same emotion. The only difference is our attitude toward the experience.

Forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past could have been any different.

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 path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.