The goal of meditation is not to achieve a blank mind, but to gain insight into the nature of mind itself.

When you note pain, you should not dwell on the thought, "I feel pain." Simply recognize the presence of pain.

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

The spiritual journey begins with the recognition that beneath our surface happiness there lies a deep inner pain.

In my youth I studied, in my prime I practiced, now all my doubts are cleared.

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophy or a religion; it is a method of practice.

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

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 essence of all phenomena is empty and clear like space. The nature of mind is awareness-emptiness like the sun and sky.

We need to learn to let our emotions pass through us like waves, without getting caught in their undertow.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

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.

When you love someone, you have to have trust and confidence. Love without trust is not yet love.

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

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

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.

The Buddha's teachings are not about abandoning our lives but about bringing the fullness of our attention to our lives.

The cave I live in is empty and so is my mind. I live simply and at ease.

Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.

The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech.

Intrinsically all living beings are Buddhas, just as ice and water are of the same substance.

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.

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

The real secret of the arts: always be a beginner.

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

The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. What seeds will you plant there?

The farther you enter into truth, the deeper it is.

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.

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.

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.

Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.

When we recognize that our thoughts are just thoughts, we can choose whether or not to follow them.