The treasure house within you contains everything, and you are free to use it. You don't need to seek outside.

Self-awareness is the key to freedom. The more we understand ourselves, the more we understand how to be free.

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

When we recognize that our thoughts are just thoughts, we can choose whether or not to follow them.

To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.

Our defilements are like tame tigers. If you feed them, they're tame. If you stop feeding them, they'll eat you up.

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

The first step toward faith is to admit that we don't know everything.

Anger or hatred is like a fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it.

The practice of meditation is not about achieving states of bliss but about seeing things as they really are.

When you do something, you should burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.

The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.

Our task is not to seek for love but to find all the barriers within ourselves that we have built against it.

The practice of meditation requires both energy and patience, both effort and relaxation.

The development of wisdom requires both study and practice, both learning and direct experience.

Hope and fear come from feeling that we lack something; they come from a sense of poverty. We can't simply relax with ourselves. We hold on to hope, and hope robs us of the present moment.

Let go of what has passed. Let go of what may come. Let go of what is happening now. Don't try to figure anything out. Don't try to make anything happen. Relax, right now, and rest.

Where is the place that your original face has not yet emerged?

Concentration develops naturally through continuous noting. Don't try to force concentration to arise.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.

Don't be afraid of the future. The future is good.

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

Work diligently. Diligently. Work patiently and persistently. Patiently and persistently. And you're bound to be successful. Bound to be successful.

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

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

The moment you note a thought, it disappears. The noting mind keeps the hindrances away.

Life is nothing but a continuous chain of sensations. Pleasant or unpleasant, observe them objectively.

The dharma is not about collecting more beliefs but about becoming free from the power of belief itself.

Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.

The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.

The most important thing in life is to know death is coming and to prepare for it.

The true path is not difficult; just avoid picking and choosing.

The everyday practice is simply to develop complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions.

The path of practice moves from faith through understanding to direct realization.

The way to overcome anger is to be too busy being kind to have time to be angry.

Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.

The way to change the world is to change your own mind.

Meditation is not about achieving anything. It's about letting go of everything.

The practice of mindfulness is simple: whatever you experience, you observe and note it.

Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

The cultivation of loving-kindness has the power to transform enmity into amity, hostility into hospitality.

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.

The teaching is simple: act with kindness and compassion. If you cannot do this, at least try not to harm others.

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

When you note effectively, there is no time for defilements to arise. The mind becomes pure through noting.

Don't expect or desire anything. Just keep noting whatever arises in the present moment.

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.

When mindfulness and concentration are strong, insight into the three characteristics naturally unfolds.

The Noble Eightfold Path is not a path of mere intellectual understanding but a path of practice, of inner transformation.

Compassion is the radicalism of our time.

Mindfulness isn't difficult, we just need to remember to do it.

When walking, just walk. When sitting, just sit. Above all, don't wobble.

If you want to understand suffering, you must look into the situation at hand. The teachings say that wherever a problem arises it must be settled right there.

Liberation is not found by running away from our experience but by looking deeply into it.

The practice of ethics is not about following rules but about developing inner purity and freedom.

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

Don't be a bodhisatta; don't be an arahant; don't be anything at all. Being something makes you suffer.

Happiness is a skill that can be developed like playing an instrument or learning to read.