The practice of ethics is not about following rules but about developing inner purity and freedom.

The deepest form of happiness comes from discovering the natural peace of our own awareness.

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

The purpose of meditation is not to create a new state of mind, but to recognize what is already present.

The highest truth cannot be taught except through the conventional truth.

The practice of vipassana is the study of the self. When you study physical and mental phenomena, you are studying the truth about yourself.

Don't take life too seriously. No one gets out alive anyway.

Nothing is permanent. Everything is subject to change. Being is always becoming.

The state of mind that exists when you sit in the right posture is, itself, enlightenment.

Forgiveness is not a moral issue. It's a power issue. When we hold onto grievance and resentment, we are giving our power away.

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

Try to be mindful and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool.

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

Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

When we develop patience, we find that we develop a reserve of calm and tranquility.

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

Meditation is like catching a fish. If you try to catch it quickly, you'll miss it. If you have patience and know how to wait, the fish will come.

The great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

Silence is sometimes the best answer.

The technique of self-observation is the technique of observing the reality about oneself at the experiential level.

In meditation, we are continuously discovering who and what we are.

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

Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: you won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.

All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births in death.

If it isn't good, let it die. If it doesn't die, make it good.

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.

The cultivation of loving-kindness is the thread that runs through all Buddhist teachings.

Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead, it's about becoming more fully human.

The mind itself is the maker of all happiness and misery; yet beings do not understand this and blame external conditions.

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.

The difference between misery and happiness depends on what we do with our attention.