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

The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.

Every moment of mindfulness is a step on the path to liberation. Each step is valuable, no matter how small.

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure.

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

The root of all suffering is ignorance. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom that realizes emptiness.

Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.

The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery.

Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.

The practice is like peeling an onion. Layer after layer of delusion is removed through continuous mindfulness.

Right View is not just a matter of intellectual understanding but of seeing things as they really are.

Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.

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

Like a dream, like an illusion, like a city of gandharvas, that's how birth, and that's how living, that's how dying are taught to be.

Leave your front door and your back door open. Allow your thoughts to come and go. Just don't serve them tea.

Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the "support," of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached.

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

The goal of meditation is not to achieve a blank mind, but to gain insight into the nature of mind itself.

Many people think excitement is happiness... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.

Meditation is not about escaping from difficulty but about meeting it with awareness.

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

The superior person is like water, bringing benefit to all without competing.

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

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

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

The contradiction so puzzling to the ordinary way of thinking comes from the fact that we have to use language to communicate our inner experience, which in its very nature transcends linguistics.

All that appears and exists, all of samsara and nirvana, has one ground, two paths, and two results. This is the magical display of awareness and unawareness.

The practitioner and practice are like fire and wood. The more you practice, the more you burn.

The root of suffering is resisting the certainty that no matter what the circumstances, uncertainty is all we truly have.

Better to have one moment of genuine meditation than to perform religious activities for a thousand years.

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