If we can not smile, we cannot help other people to smile.
Meditation is not to get out of society, to escape from society, but to prepare for a reentery into society.
Contemplate to see that awakened people, while not being enslaved by the work of serving living beings, never abandon their work of serving living beings.
No single tradition monopolizes the truth. We must glean the best values of all traditions and work together to remove the tensions between traditions in order to give peace a chance.
May we awaken from the dream that we are different.
If you find yourself in some difficulty, step aside, and allow Buddha to take your place. The Buddha is in you.
To meditate is to be aware of what is going on – in our bodies, our feelings our minds, and in the world. When we settle into the present moment, we can see the beauties and wonders before our eyes.
Compassion is a mind that removes the suffering that is present in the other.
Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to live. Select a vocation that helps realise your ideal of compassion.
No one is more worthy of your kindness and compassion than you are.
Enlightenment for a wave is the moment the wave realizes it is water. At that moment, all fear of death disappears.
Shallow understanding accompanies poor compassion; great understanding goes with great compassion.
When we look deeply into the heart of a flower, we see clouds, sunshine, minerals, time, the earth, and everything else in the cosmos in it. Without clouds there could be no rain, and without rain there would be no flower.
We try many ways to be awake, but our society still keeps us forgetful. Meditation is to help us remember.
Anxiety is the illness of our age. We worry about ourselves, our family, our friends, our work, and our state of the world. If we allow worry to fill our hearts, sooner or later we will get sick.
You have to do it by yourself. You can not do it alone.
In Buddhism, mindfulness is the key. Mindfulness is the energy that sheds light on all things and all activities, producing the power of concentration, bringing forth deep insight and awakening. Mindfulness is the base of Buddhist practice.
There are two ways to wash the dishes. One way is to wash them to get them clean. The other way is to wash them in order to wash the dishes.
Real peace is not in power, money, or weapons, but in deep inner peace.
If we are not peaceful, if we are not feeling well in our skin, we cannot demonstrate real peace, and we cannot raise our children well either.