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

The defilements of the mind are temporary visitors. Pure awareness is your true home.

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

Just to be alive is enough.

In a mind clear as still water, even the waves, breaking, are reflecting its light.

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

Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake up and become aware. It does not teach, it points.

In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.

The best way to solve a problem is to help someone else solve their problem.

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

External phenomena are like a dream, whatever appears is not real. Recognize the nature of dream-like phenomena to be dream-like.

Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.

Breathing in, there is only the present moment. Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment.

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.

It is never too late to turn on the light.

Life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink.

Happiness is found in the simplest of things. It is not in the things you own, but in the love you share.

The way to change others' minds is with affection, and not anger.

When walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble.

The mind is the source of all happiness and the source of all suffering.

Just as the wise do not take a mirage to be water, nor an echo to be a voice, so the enlightened do not take the world to be real.

The view is like a lion - it cannot be led around by anything else. Meditation is like an eagle - it cannot be distracted by anything else. Action is like a madman - it is free from accepting and rejecting.

The teaching of the Buddha is based on two truths: conventional truth and ultimate truth. Without understanding the relationship between these two, the deeper meaning of the Buddha's teaching cannot be understood.

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

Emptiness which is conceptually liable to be mistaken for sheer nothingness is in fact the reservoir of infinite possibilities.

Wherever you are, you are one with the clouds and one with the sun and the stars you see. You are one with everything. That is more true than I can say, and more true than you can hear.

Recognize the emptiness of all phenomena, but do not become attached to emptiness itself.

Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.

The path of practice requires both faith and wisdom, both devotion and understanding.

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

To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things.