Compassion is a verb.

The water in the ocean can be rough or calm. It can be clear or murky. But the water itself doesn't mind.

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

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

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.

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

The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.

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

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.

The root of suffering is resisting the certainty that no matter what the circumstances, uncertainty is all we truly have.

Intrinsically all living beings are Buddhas, just as ice and water are of the same substance.

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

Compassion is not something we develop. It arises naturally as we see the truth of what is.

Not knowing how near the truth is, we seek it far away.

Just know what is happening in your mind - not happy or sad about it, not attached. If you suffer, see it, know it, be empty.

The first noble truth of the Buddha is that life contains suffering. The second noble truth is that the cause of suffering is craving.

Many people think excitement is happiness... But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.

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

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

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.

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

Zen is not necessarily against words, but it is well aware of their limitations.

Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.

Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.

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

The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don't wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.

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

The ultimate source of happiness is not money and power, but warm-heartedness.

The three characteristics - impermanence, suffering, and non-self - are not philosophical concepts but aspects of experience to be directly observed.

Wisdom arises when you see the true characteristics of phenomena through direct experience.

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

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.