If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.

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

Instead of having a deep understanding of the teaching, we need a strong confidence in our teaching, which says that originally we have Buddha nature.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Love is not a feeling. It's a capability.

Kindness is the solution to all of life's problems.

The purpose of meditation is not to create a mental vacuum but to come to know one's own mind.

Compassion is a verb.

Even if you speak of 'understanding,' this understanding is not a matter of knowledge. It is what fills the entire body and mind.

When you note pain, you should not dwell on the thought, "I feel pain." Simply recognize the presence of pain.

Silence is so much more productive of wisdom and clarity than thinking.

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

The essence of Buddhist practice is to bring everything onto the path. Every experience becomes an opportunity for awakening.

When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength.

The purpose of studying Buddhism is not to study Buddhism, but to study ourselves.

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

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

Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.

Mindfulness is the quality and power of mind that is aware of what's happening—without judgment and without interference.

Start from where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

Faith is the firm foundation, diligence the supporting pillar, and wisdom the roof of the house of practice.

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.

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

The Buddha taught that wealth does not bring happiness and security. The pursuit of wealth is a matter of living in balance.

Where there is great doubt, there is great awakening; small doubt, small awakening; no doubt, no awakening.

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.

The heart of the path is quite simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are.

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

When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions.

The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand; I take a book from the other side of the desk; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighboring wood: all these I do in Zen.

The spiritual journey begins with the recognition that beneath our surface happiness there lies a deep inner pain.

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 great gift of meditation is that it returns us to the simplicity of our own being.

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.

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

Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.

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

The key to transformation is not to fight with our experience but to open to it with awareness.

The only thing that we truly have control over is our attitude toward experience.

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

Compassion is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.

The only way to fail at meditation is to stop doing it.

My religion is to live and die without regret.

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

The art of living... is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.

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

Moment after moment, completely devote yourself to listening to your inner voice.

Meditation is not about getting away from it all. It's about getting into it all.

The truth of suffering is not to be feared but to be understood through direct observation.

When you understand one thing through and through, you understand everything. When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.

The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

The practice of mindfulness leads naturally to concentration. Concentration leads naturally to wisdom.

Not by hatred is hatred conquered, but by love alone. This is an eternal law.

The measure of success in spiritual life is how peaceful you are.

Do not mistake understanding for realization, and do not mistake realization for liberation.

If you want to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be miserable, expect something in return.

The true purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.

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

The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught Dhamma - the way to liberation - which is universal.

Karma is not fate but the law of moral causation, showing us that we are the architects of our own destiny.