The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

The mind creates the abyss, and the heart crosses it.

The realization of impermanence leads not to despair but to a deeper appreciation of the preciousness of each moment.

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

The biggest prison is the one we build in our own mind.

The practice of mindfulness begins in the small, remote cave of your unconscious mind and blossoms with the sunlight of your conscious life.

The Buddha's teaching is not about belief but about investigation, not about accepting but about examining.

Our basic nature is pure awareness that simply cognizes experience. Everything else is temporary and adventitious.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour.

Mindfulness is being aware of what's going on, not trying to control what's going on.

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

The dharma is not in the books. If you want to find the dharma, look in your mind.

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.

Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one's own acts, done and undone.

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

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

When things fall apart and we're on the verge of we know not what, the test of each of us is to stay on that brink and not concretize.

Meditation is like a gym in which you develop the powerful mental muscles of calm and insight.

When you see forms or hear sounds fully engaging body-and-mind, you intuit dharma intimately.

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

Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking.

True happiness is not about getting rid of all our problems, but about changing our relationship to them.

The way to change others' minds is with affection, and not anger.

To see directly is to be free of hope and fear. Hope and fear are like a cloud before the sun.

The more clearly you see the arising and passing of phenomena, the less you will be attached to them.

Study the Buddha's teaching which is present in every moment.

Every step on the path must be with the understanding of anicca - impermanence. This is the essence of the teaching.

Conquer anger with non-anger. Conquer evil with good. Conquer stinginess with giving. Conquer deceit with truth.

Compassion is a verb.

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.

What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.

The true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.