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

If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer.

Neither from itself nor from another, nor from both, nor without a cause, does anything whatever, anywhere arise.

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all. It is a realization that where you are is where you have always been.

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

Those who understand interdependent origination understand suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

The more we understand the nature of our mind, the more we understand the nature of our world.

The goal of the Buddhist path is not to add something to our existence but to discover something that has been there all along.

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

Without darkness, there is no light. Without the path, there is no arrival.

Everybody has the light of Buddha within, but they don't look for it.

The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel.

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.

When we understand others, we understand ourselves. When we love others, we love ourselves.

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.

The root of all suffering is ignorance. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom that realizes emptiness.

As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

Our basic nature is pure awareness that simply cognizes experience. Everything else is temporary and adventitious.

When you realize the emptiness of all phenomena, compassion will arise in your heart for all sentient beings who do not understand this truth.

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

The realization of impermanence leads not to despair but to a deeper appreciation of the preciousness of each moment.

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

The secret of happiness is to want what you already have.

My father is the intrinsic awareness, Samantabhadra. My mother is the ultimate sphere of reality, Samantabhadri. I belong to the caste of non-duality of these two.

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

Enlightenment is not about becoming something special, but about realizing what we already are.

The color of the mountains is Buddha's body; the sound of running water is his great speech.

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

True freedom is a freedom from the tyranny of our own thoughts and afflictive emotions.

The practice of Buddhism is fundamentally a practice of expanding our happiness and diminishing our suffering.

There is no way to happiness - happiness is the way.

To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.

The Dhamma is not a collection of doctrinal formulas but a path leading to direct insight into the nature of reality.

Impermanence, suffering, and non-self are not philosophical concepts but realities to be directly perceived through mindfulness practice.

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.

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

All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; apart from beings, no Buddha.

The path of awakening is not about becoming who you are. Rather it is about unbecoming who you are not.

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.

Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

By understanding emptiness, one understands all phenomena. Without understanding emptiness, one understands nothing.

Through continuous mindfulness practice, the true nature of physical and mental phenomena becomes clear.

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

In the spiritual world there are no time divisions such as the past, present and future; for they have contracted themselves into a single moment of the present where life quivers in its true sense.

Altruism is not a luxury, it is a necessity for the survival of humanity.

The essence of the spiritual journey is the uncovering of what is always already present.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life - to be happy. This is the goal of Buddhist practice.

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.

Life is available only in the present moment.

Although all phenomena are empty of inherent existence, they function perfectly well.

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

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

Our true nature is like a diamond - pure, brilliant, and indestructible. No matter how much dirt covers it, its essential nature remains unchanged.

Craving and aversion are the roots of suffering. Observe them with equanimity.

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

True freedom is not the absence of commitment but the presence of choice.

The path of awakening is not about becoming who we think we should be, but about unbecoming who we are not.