The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. What seeds will you plant there?

Birth and death are neither two things nor one thing. Life is not an appearance, death is not a disappearance.

The way we look at the world is the way the world looks.

Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?

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

The path is the goal. Every step of the journey is the journey.

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

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

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

The path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.

The grass is greener where you water it.

The more you suffer the deeper grows your character, and with the deepening of your character you read the more penetratingly into the secrets of life.

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

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

When the iron bird flies and horses run on wheels, the Tibetan people will be scattered like ants across the face of the earth.

The practice is like peeling an onion. Layer after layer of delusion is removed through continuous mindfulness.

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

The deepest happiness comes from having an enduring sense of purpose, one that gives our lives meaning beyond the endless pursuit of pleasure and success.

Meditation is not about escaping from difficulty but about meeting it with awareness.

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

If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.

The nature of the mind is like the sky, and our thoughts, emotions, and experiences are like clouds passing through it.

Compassion is not mere sentiment but a powerful force that can transform both ourselves and others.

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes.

The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the dharma gate of joyful ease.

The restraint of the senses is not a matter of suppression but of wise attention to our experience.

Life is available only in the present moment.

The awareness that you are here, right now, is the ultimate fact.

The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with.

When you love someone, you have to have trust and confidence. Love without trust is not yet love.

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

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.