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 meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

What we learn about the world is colored by the way we approach it.

In the moment of anger, abandon anger but not the person. In the moment of attachment, abandon attachment but not the person.

The essence of all phenomena is empty and clear like space. The nature of mind is awareness-emptiness like the sun and sky.

The essence of Buddhism is not a belief system but a systematic investigation of our experience.

Those who cling to perceptions and views wander the world offending people.

The key to the Buddha's teaching is not grasping, not trying to hold onto things that are essentially impermanent and unstable.

To see nothing is to perceive the Way, and to understand nothing is to know the Dharma.

This very body is the Buddha. And this very earth the lotus paradise.

The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand; I take a book from the other side of the desk; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring wood: all these I do in Zen.

Panic, anxiety, and stress are not obstacles to the practice. They are the path to wisdom and compassion.

The practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.

The mind is like a wild monkey, jumping here and there. But through meditation, we learn to see whatever arises in our mind with more spaciousness and clarity.

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

Each moment of clear seeing is a moment of freedom from the illusion of permanence, satisfaction, and self.

Whoever told you that practice and enlightenment are separate?

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

The Buddha's teaching is a teaching of self-reliance, of being one's own master, one's own refuge.

Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what's happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what's happening.

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

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

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

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

We can learn to be present with whatever is happening in our lives, and in this way, we can begin to transform our relationship to difficulty.

All experiences are preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind. Speak or act with a corrupted mind, and suffering follows as the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox.

When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions.

The nature of mind is clearer than the sky, yet we keep looking elsewhere.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.