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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

The essence of all phenomena is empty and clear like space. The nature of mind is awareness-emptiness like the sun and sky.

Reality is only a Rorschach ink-blot, you know.

The essence of mind is empty like space; yet it contains all things, like a mirror.

The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities.

A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.

The door of your heart can only be opened from the inside.

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.

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

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

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.

When we develop patience, we find that we develop a reserve of calm and tranquility.

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

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

All experiences are preceded by mind, led by mind, made by mind. Speak or act with a corrupted mind, and suffering follows as the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox.

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

Genuine happiness comes from having developed basic human qualities, such as attention, emotional balance, and generosity.

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.

If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.

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

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

Equanimity is not indifference. It is the balanced state of mind.

Appearances are mind, mind itself is emptiness, emptiness itself is spontaneous presence.

Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake up and become aware. It does not teach, it points.

The more you meditate, the more you understand yourself and the better friend you become to yourself.

The challenge in meditation is not to eliminate thinking but to understand the nature of thought itself.

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

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

The more you are motivated by love, the more fearless and free your actions will be.

The noting mind and the object noted appear to occur as a pair. Through concentration they are seen to arise and vanish together.

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

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

The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded.

Don't try to push away the darkness. Just light a lamp. The darkness will disappear by itself.

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

Each moment of mindfulness is a moment of purification.

If you want to know the past, look at the present. If you want to know the future, look at the present.

Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us.

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

Peace and negativity cannot coexist just as light and darkness cannot coexist.

The role of Zen is neither to stand above life nor to run away from it, but to face it with a spirit of determination.

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

We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

When concentration is developed, wisdom arises. When wisdom arises, one becomes disenchanted with the five aggregates.

The one who grasps at existence suffers in samsara, while the one who grasps at non-existence will find no liberation.

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

The mind that sees its own nature becomes free from all extremes.

We need the courage to learn from our experience and the wisdom to be willing to change and grow.

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

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

In the moment of anger, abandon anger but not the person. In the moment of attachment, abandon attachment but not the person.

The practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind. In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.

The supreme path is not to fabricate anything. The supreme meditation is not to be distracted.