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

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

The practice is not about achieving special states but about seeing ordinary experience with extraordinary clarity.

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

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

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

Mindfulness is being aware of what's going on, not trying to control what's going on.

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

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

The mind is intrinsically empty. It's empty of all that we perceive as being intrinsically "me" and "mine."

There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way.

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

The mind itself is the maker of all happiness and misery; yet beings do not understand this and blame external conditions.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that's really swell.

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

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

The teaching of the Buddha is based on two truths: conventional truth and ultimate truth. Without understanding the relationship between these two, the deeper meaning of the Buddha's teaching cannot be understood.

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

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

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

Whatever is happening is the path to enlightenment.

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.

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

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment.

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

Compassion is not mere sentiment but a powerful force that can transform both ourselves and others.

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.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.

The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel.

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

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

Happiness is not the pursuit of an endless succession of experiences but an attitude toward life.

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

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

Real happiness comes from having an unshakable connection to the deep wellspring of peace and happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.

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

The world is its own magic.

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

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

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.

Sensations are not your enemy. They are your teacher. Through observing them, you understand the truth of existence.

To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.

The more you give, the more you have. That's the economics of kindness.

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

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

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

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.

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

Every thought, every word, and every action leaves an imprint on our mind.

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.

Mindfulness is attention to life, and life itself is sacred.

When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.

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

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

The purpose of our lives is to be happy, and happiness is found in benefiting others.

The path is the goal. Every step of the journey is the journey.

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