Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look.

The Buddha taught us to leave alone the things that don't lead to awakening.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

The best way to control people is to encourage them to be mischievous. Then they will be in control in a wider sense.

When we look directly at our thoughts, they dissolve like bubbles in water.

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

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

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

The nature of life is change. The nature of change is painful. The nature of pain is temporary.

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

Your mind is like a garden. Your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds.

Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

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?

Life is available only in the present moment.

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.

In meditation, we are continuously discovering who and what we are.

The deepest happiness comes from having an enduring sense of purpose, one that gives our lives meaning beyond the endless pursuit of pleasure and success.

Meditation is not an escape from life but a way to fully engage with life.

To see nothing is to perceive the Way, and to understand nothing is to know the Dharma.

Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.

If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace.

The nature of all things is like a magical illusion, a mirage, a dream, a reflection of the moon in water.

External phenomena are like a dream, whatever appears is not real. Recognize the nature of dream-like phenomena to be dream-like.

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

The door of your heart can only be opened from the inside.

The perfect moment is this one, not the one you're waiting for.

If you want to find peace, then look at that point where you find you're dissatisfied and investigate what's really going on.

Change is the nature of every phenomenon. Accept this truth and you will live a happy life.

To live fully is to let go and die with each step.

Enlightenment is the realization that we were never really separate from one another or from all of life.

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

The way to change the world is to change your own mind.