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.

When I run from suffering, it follows me. When I face suffering with equanimity, it runs from me.

Don't try to change the world. First, change yourself.

To see directly is to be free of hope and fear. Hope and fear are like a cloud before the sun.

All experiences are preceded by mind, having mind as their master, created by mind.

The most profound meditation is to think nothing at all.

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

The development of wisdom does not occur in isolation but requires the cultivation of the entire Noble Eightfold Path.

To be attached to a thing means that mind and the thing meet and grow into each other.

The entire path is a path of self-responsibility. Nobody else can walk it for you.

The problem is not the problem; the problem is your attitude about the problem.

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.

Past thoughts are traceless, clear, and empty. Future thoughts are unborn and fresh. The present moment abides naturally and unconstructed.

Those who grasp at things as truly existent are like someone trying to catch the reflection of the moon in water.

Meditation is not about getting rid of thoughts; it's about changing the way we relate to them.

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

Misery ceases to exist when we stop reacting to sensations.

Forgiveness is giving up all hope for a better past.

The practice of metta begins with oneself, for only when we have developed loving-kindness towards ourselves can we truly offer it to others.

The mind is like a well-forged sword - it adapts to all situations.

The greatest achievement is selflessness. The greatest worth is self-mastery.

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

Meditation is not about trying to change your experience; it's about changing your relationship to your experience.

Maintain the state of undistractedness and distractions will fly away.

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

The greatest obstacle to meditation is our expectation about what it should be.

When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet it.

Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

When you generate negativity, you are the first victim of your negativity.

When mindfulness is weak, defilements are strong; when mindfulness is strong, defilements are weak.

In meditation, we're not trying to get rid of thoughts but to recognize their true nature.

The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind.

Expectations are the thieves of joy.

We practice to learn how to let go, not how to increase our holding on to things.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.

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.

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

Only one book is worth reading: the heart.

The defilements of the mind are temporary visitors. Pure awareness is your true home.

Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.

The stages of insight unfold naturally when mindfulness is continuous. There is no need to desire them or try to make them happen.

Every moment of confusion is also a moment of wisdom, if we can learn to recognize it.

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

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

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

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

When we look directly at our thoughts, they dissolve like bubbles in water.

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

The true mark of a spiritual practitioner is that your own behavior is better, not that you can criticize others well.

Change is possible because there is nothing inherently permanent about our disturbing emotions.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

In the moment of love, awareness is very strong. Use that awareness, that strength of consciousness, to look into yourself.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

The whole path of mindfulness is about letting go. We let go of our attachment to our views, our attachment to our opinions, our attachment to our ideas.

The four foundations of mindfulness are not separate practices but different aspects of the same practice of clear awareness.

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

A pure mind is always full of love - real love for all others.

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced mind that sees things clearly without reaction.