We should not be too sure of our ideas. We should be ready to let go of them. What we consider to be a misfortune may turn out to be a fortune later on. It depends on our way of handling the situation.

With our practice we are training ourselves to generate joy, happiness, peace, harmony, and reconciliation, and to handle pain, suffering, separation, and misunderstanding.

According to Master Linji, if, while walking or eating or going about your day, you can create even just one flash of mindfulness, that’s good enough.

Humankind is made of stars. The Earth is not only the Earth but the whole cosmos.

Compassion can protect you better even than guns and bombs. With compassion in your heart, you will not react in fear or anger and you will attract much less danger to yourself.

you have to invent new ways of doing it, so that the breathing, walking, and sitting always brings you delight, solidity, and peace.

with the insight that—no matter what—you still have your buddha-nature within, you are free. You are free from the feeling of being a victim.

You allow yourself time to sit, to walk—not doing anything, just looking deeply into the situation and into your own mind.

If in the twenty-four hours of your day you have five minutes of peace, ease, and freedom, that’s not too bad.