If you forget yourself, you become the universe.

Both formerly and now, it is only suffering that I describe, and the cessation of suffering.

The practitioner and practice are like fire and wood. The more you practice, the more you burn.

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

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 Buddha's teaching challenges us to master the art of living, to live in a way that leads to the extinction of suffering.

The victorious ones have said that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incurable.

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

The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand; I take a book from the other side of the desk; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring wood: all these I do in Zen.

The noting mind and the object noted appear to occur as a pair. Through concentration they are seen to arise and vanish together.

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

Faith is the firm foundation, diligence the supporting pillar, and wisdom the roof of the house of practice.

True freedom is not the absence of commitment but the presence of choice.

The time of the past becomes the present, the time of the present becomes the future, the time of the future becomes the present, and the time of the present becomes the past.

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

The Noble Eightfold Path is not a path of mere intellectual understanding but a path of practice, of inner transformation.

Appearances are mind, mind itself is emptiness, emptiness itself is spontaneous presence.

Zazen is not step-by-step meditation. Rather it is simply the easy and pleasant practice of a Buddha, the realization of the Buddha's Wisdom.

Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words are fruitless in a man who does not act in accordance with them.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks.

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.

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

The difference between being caught in thoughts and being mindful of thoughts is like the difference between being in a movie and watching a movie.

The technique of self-observation is the technique of observing the reality about oneself at the experiential level.

The nature of everything is illusory and ephemeral, those with dualistic perception regard suffering as happiness, like they who lick the honey from a razor's edge.

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

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.

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

Meditation is not about trying to change your experience; it's about changing your relationship to your experience.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

The force of the kindness of others is so strong, we can't possibly measure it.

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