This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

The restraint of the senses is not a matter of suppression but of wise attention to our experience.

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

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

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

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.

The supreme path is not to fabricate anything. The supreme meditation is not to be distracted.

As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind.

Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

Mindfulness is not just bare attention but wise attention that leads to understanding and insight.

Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.

The measure of success in spiritual life is how peaceful you are.

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

The nature of everything is illusory and ephemeral, those with dualistic perception regard suffering as happiness, like they who lick the honey from a razor's edge.

When thoughts arise, recognize them as the display of your own awareness, like recognizing your own children in a crowd.

To live is enough.

Your own treasure house contains everything you need; why search outside?

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.

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

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

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

Even if you speak of 'understanding,' this understanding is not a matter of knowledge. It is what fills the entire body and mind.

The master's introduction is direct recognition of one's own nature. Meditation is maintaining the continuity of this recognition.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

True happiness is born of letting go of what is unnecessary.

As a flower that is lovely and beautiful, but is scentless, even so fruitless is the well-spoken word of one who does not practice it.

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

Maintain the state of undistractedness and distractions will fly away.

The nature of mind is like a mirror. It is not affected by whatever appears in it, yet it never fails to reflect everything perfectly.

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

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.

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

The four foundations of mindfulness are not separate practices but different aspects of the same practice of clear awareness.