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

It is never too late to turn on the light.

The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with.

If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything.

Real peace comes from seeing things as they really are, not as we want them to be.

The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.

The six realms of existence are like a dream, why build a prison for yourself?

Wisdom says we are nothing. Love says we are everything. Between these two our life flows.

Face your own anger and you will be free from anger. Face your own fears and you will be free from fear.

Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that's all that's happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction. On the other hand, wretchedness--life's painful aspect--softens us up considerably. Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person.

Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice.

Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature.

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.

The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transiency, or change.

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

Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, wisdom arises naturally as we open our hearts to the truth of what is.

Every moment of confusion is also a moment of wisdom, if we can learn to recognize it.

The five aggregates are not a theoretical model but a description of lived experience to be investigated through mindfulness.

The ocean does not reject any water; therefore it is great. The mountain does not select its stones; therefore it is great.

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

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

In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.

Start from where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

The Buddha's teaching challenges us to master the art of living, to live in a way that leads to the extinction of suffering.

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

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

Buddhas and ordinary beings are not two. Enlightenment and delusion are not different paths.

Let go of what has passed. Let go of what may come. Let go of what is happening now. Don't try to figure anything out. Don't try to make anything happen. Relax, right now, and rest.

The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay the practice of meditation.

Don't expect or desire anything. Just keep noting whatever arises in the present moment.

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 nature of everything is empty and clear, and the mind is beyond both existence and nonexistence.

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