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.

Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.

The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma - the way to liberation - which is universal.

Dependent origination is not a theory about the origin of the world but a teaching that shows how suffering originates in dependence on our own mental processes.

The path is not about perfecting ourselves, but about perfecting our love.

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.

The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel.

The mind that sees its own nature becomes free from all extremes.

Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

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

The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.

When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet it.

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

The key to meditation is to recognize the nature of your mind rather than trying to change it.

The key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear and suspicion.

The way to overcome anger is to be too busy being kind to have time to be angry.

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.

Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we're holding back.

Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

Short moments, many times. That is the essence of meditation practice.

The essence of Buddhist practice is to reduce our selfishness and to work for the benefit of others.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

In the monastery of your body, the monk of your mind must stay in retreat.

It is never too late to turn on the light.

The world is its own magic.

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

Concentration and insight are like two wings of a bird: both are necessary for the flight to liberation.

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

Just as the great ocean has one taste, the taste of salt, so also this teaching and discipline has one taste, the taste of liberation.

The development of wisdom does not occur in isolation but requires the cultivation of the entire Noble Eightfold Path.

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

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

Every intelligent individual wants to know what makes him tick, and yet is at once fascinated and frustrated by the fact that oneself is the most difficult of all things to know.