The way we look at the world is the way the world looks.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

What Zen wants us to do is to acquire an entirely new point of view whereby to look into the mysteries of life and the secrets of nature.

Peace is not found by changing the world, but by changing your attitude to the world.

Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher.

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

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

The Buddha's teachings are not about abandoning our lives but about bringing the fullness of our attention to our lives.

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.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

Life is like a cup of tea. It's all in how you make it.

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

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

Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.

The true person is not anyone in particular. But like the deep blue color of the limitless sky, it is everyone, everywhere in the world.

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

Mindfulness means keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality.

Real happiness comes from having an unshakable connection to the deep wellspring of peace and happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.

Each moment of clear seeing is a moment of freedom from the illusion of permanence, satisfaction, and self.

The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.

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

The more you understand, the more you love; the more you love, the more you understand.

Enlightenment is not the end of change but the end of resistance to change.

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

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

Panic, anxiety, and stress are not obstacles to the practice. They are the path to wisdom and compassion.

The mind itself is the maker of all happiness and misery; yet beings do not understand this and blame external conditions.

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

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

To understand everything is to forgive everything.

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

Recognize the emptiness of all phenomena, but do not become attached to emptiness itself.

The biggest prison is the one we build in our own mind.

Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.

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

Be happy at the moment, that's enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.

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

Insight knowledge comes from direct experience, not from intellectual understanding.

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

Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future.

When we see the nature of the mind, we see that we are not our thoughts.

In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help.

Our own life has to be our message.

Loving-kindness is not something we need to manufacture. It's a natural expression of our awakened nature.

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

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

When the heart is still, it can be kind. When the mind is still, it can see clearly.

Dependent origination is not a theory about the origin of the world but a teaching that shows how suffering originates in dependence on our own mental processes.

In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.

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.

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

The purpose of a spiritual discipline is to give us a way to stop the war, not by our force of will, but through understanding and through letting go.

In the spring, hundreds of flowers; in autumn, a harvest moon; in the summer, a refreshing breeze; in winter, snow will accompany you. If useless things do not hang in your mind, any season is a good season for you.

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

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

The Buddha's teaching is not about belief but about investigation, not about accepting but about examining.

Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.

Sankharas are the seeds of consciousness that manifest as sensations. By observing sensations equanimously, we stop creating new sankharas.