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

Real happiness comes from having an unshakable connection to the deep wellspring of peace and happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.

When you note pain, you are not trying to make it go away. You are trying to understand its true nature.

When we rest in awareness, we discover a peace that is always present, regardless of circumstances.

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

The cultivation of loving-kindness has the power to transform enmity into amity, hostility into hospitality.

The secret of happiness lies not in getting what we want, but in learning to want what we already have.

The more you meditate, the more you understand yourself and the better friend you become to yourself.

Change is possible because there is nothing inherently permanent about our disturbing emotions.

Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.

The true understanding is that the practice itself is enlightenment.

The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.

Through continuous mindfulness practice, the true nature of physical and mental phenomena becomes clear.

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

In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived, how well we have loved, how well we have learned to let go.

We can learn the art of fierce compassion - redefining strength, deconstructing isolation and renewing a sense of community, practicing letting go of rigid us-vs.-them thinking.

The past is for learning from, not for living in.

The purpose of life is to be happy, to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate. It is not to be well known, cited, or powerful.

Meditation in the midst of activity is a thousand times superior to meditation in stillness.

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

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

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.

The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

Whatever precious jewel there is in the heavenly worlds, there is nothing comparable to one who is awakened.

In the beginning, nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.

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

The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort.

Mindfulness is attention to life, and life itself is sacred.

The more you give, the more you have. That's the economics of kindness.

Faith is the firm foundation, diligence the supporting pillar, and wisdom the roof of the house of practice.

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

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