The defilements of the mind are temporary visitors. Pure awareness is your true home.

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

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

Karma is not fate but the law of moral causation, showing us that we are the architects of our own destiny.

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

You are the master of your own mind. You can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

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

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

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

Compassion is not something we develop. It arises naturally as we see the truth of what is.

Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.

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

The treasure house within you contains everything, and you are free to use it. You don't need to seek outside.

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

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

The Noble Eightfold Path is a path of training: training in ethical conduct, training in mental discipline, and training in wisdom.

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

The grass is greener where you water it.

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

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

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

The path is not about moving from one place to another. It's about recognizing where we already are.

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

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 mind is everything. What you think, you become.

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

Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.

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

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.

Each moment of clear seeing is a moment of freedom from the illusion of permanence, satisfaction, and self.

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

Wisdom arises when you see the true characteristics of phenomena through direct experience.

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

Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

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.

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

When dharma fills your body and mind, you realize that something is missing.

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

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

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

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

When you note pain, you are not trying to make it go away. You are trying to understand its true nature.

Wisdom is not about accumulating knowledge, but about seeing through all knowledge.

The more we understand impermanence, the more we understand that we can't hold on to anything.

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

Happiness is not about getting what you want, but wanting what you've got.

If you want to find peace, then look at that point where you find you're dissatisfied and investigate what's really going on.

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

Our own life has to be our message.

If I had any position, I would thereby have a flaw. But since I have no position, I alone am without flaw.

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

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.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

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

When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.