Like a dream, like an illusion, like a city of gandharvas, that's how birth, and that's how living, that's how dying are taught to be.

We do not "come into" this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree.

You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.

The future is completely open, and we are writing it moment to moment.

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

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

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

The eye with which I see Buddha is the same eye with which Buddha sees me.

The path to liberation is through understanding the true nature of mind and matter through direct observation.

Happiness is not about getting what you want, but wanting what you've got.

The world is its own magic.

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.

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

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

Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher.

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

For whom emptiness is possible, everything is possible. For whom emptiness is not possible, nothing is possible.

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

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

Happiness is not the pursuit of an endless succession of experiences but an attitude toward life.

True happiness is not found through the multiplication of desires but through their simplification.

The nature of mind is like a mirror. It is not affected by whatever appears in it, yet it never fails to reflect everything perfectly.

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.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

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

The past is just a memory. The future is just a dream. Be here now.

Life is available only in the present moment.

The person who clings to nothing of the past, present and future, who has no attachment and no aversion, has no conceptual imprints.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy, and happiness is found in benefiting others.

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

The Buddha taught us to leave alone the things that don't lead to awakening.

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

For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.

The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting to a place that's really swell.

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

The more you understand impermanence, the more you appreciate every moment.

The Dhamma unfolds in accordance with a definite sequence: faith, virtue, learning, generosity, wisdom, and insight.

If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look into your present actions.

Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.

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

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

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

Right View is not just a matter of intellectual understanding but of seeing things as they really are.

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

The nature of everything is empty and clear, and the mind is beyond both existence and nonexistence.

Ethical conduct is not a constraint upon our freedom but a condition of our freedom.

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

When you recognize that pain and suffering are impermanent, you become free.

Just to be alive is enough.

Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope - a slight change, and all patterns alter.

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

The Buddha's teaching is not about belief but about investigation, not about accepting but about examining.

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

In the beginning, nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.

What we call "I" is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale.

The victorious ones have said that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incurable.

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

We should find perfect existence through imperfect existence.