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

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

Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what's happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what's happening.

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

The yogi's joy is in the solitude of mountains, where all distractions naturally dissolve into emptiness.

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.

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

The sign of wisdom is constant joy.

The more we understand the nature of our mind, the more we understand the nature of our world.

When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

When mindfulness becomes continuous, the distinction between the observer and the observed begins to break down.

When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

Whatever we do, we should see ourselves. Reading books doesn't show us our defilements. Watch yourself. Watch your mind.

When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions.

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?

Meditation is like catching a fish. If you try to catch it quickly, you'll miss it. If you have patience and know how to wait, the fish will come.

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

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

Metta is the ability to embrace all parts of ourselves, as well as all parts of the world.

Start from where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

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.

The key to the Buddha's teaching is not grasping, not trying to hold onto things that are essentially impermanent and unstable.

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

The great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

To live – is that not enough? To love – is that not everything?

Meditation is not an escape from reality but a way to understand reality as it truly is.

Mindfulness is the key to the present moment. Without it we cannot see the world clearly, and we cannot make the wisest choices in our lives.

The archer ceases to be conscious of himself as the one who is engaged in hitting the bull's-eye which confronts him. This state of unconsciousness is realized only when, completely empty and rid of the self, he becomes one with the perfecting of his technical skill.

Just as true humor is laughter at oneself, true humanity is knowledge of oneself.

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

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

Generosity generates its own enthusiasm. We don't have to force ourselves to be generous; we just need to start.