The path to liberation is through understanding the true nature of mind and matter through direct observation.

To see directly is to be free of hope and fear. Hope and fear are like a cloud before the sun.

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

Do not mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization for liberation.

Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence.

When mindfulness and concentration are strong, insight into the three characteristics naturally unfolds.

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

When we see the nature of the mind, we see that we are not our thoughts.

Zen is a way of life, not a theory or a piece of knowledge to be stored away in our minds.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

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

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

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

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

Trees, mountains, and vines all exist in nature according to their own truth. They are born and die following their nature. They remain this way because that's what they are. They don't practice meditation or do anything special.

The essence of meditation is not something complicated or exotic. It is simply taking a break from our habitual patterns.

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

Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back, and reasons to stay.

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

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

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

The willingness to empty ourselves and then seek our true nature is an expression of great and courageous love.

The essence of the spiritual journey is the uncovering of what is always already present.

The one who grasps at existence suffers in samsara, while the one who grasps at non-existence will find no liberation.

Mindfulness isn't difficult, we just need to remember to do it.

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.

A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.

Loving-kindness is not something we need to manufacture. It's a natural expression of our awakened nature.

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.

Real peace comes from seeing things as they really are, not as we want them to be.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.

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

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

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 biggest prison is the one we build in our own mind.

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

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

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

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

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

If you want to climb a mountain, begin at the top.

Every experience is an opportunity to practice awareness.

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

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

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.

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

The three characteristics - impermanence, suffering, and non-self - are not philosophical concepts but aspects of experience to be directly observed.

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

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

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

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

The way we look at the world is the way the world looks.

Life is like a cup of tea. It's all in how you make it.