Mindfulness and Meditation
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
“Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.”
“Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine.”
“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”
“To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”
“A disciplined mind brings happiness.”
“In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.”
“You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself.”
“If you find no one to support you on the spiritual path, walk alone.”
“Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.”
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts.”
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
“Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.”
“Wear your ego like a loose-fitting garment.”
“Purity or impurity depends on oneself, no one can purify another.”
“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.”
“The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.”
“What we think, we become.”
“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”
“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance.”
“Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words are fruitless in a man who does not act in accordance with them.”
“Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”
“If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts, happiness follows them like a never-departing shadow.”
“An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.”
“A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving, and fearless, then he is in truth called wise.”
“To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.”
“When watching after yourself, you watch after others. When watching after others, you watch after yourself.”
“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.”
“He who can curb his wrath as soon as it arises, as a timely antidote will check snake’s venom that so quickly spreads—such a monk gives up the here and the beyond, just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.”
“Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.”
Peace and Happiness
“Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. It solely relies on what you think.”
“Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”
“The root of suffering is attachment.”
“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.”
“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
“Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be filled with joy.”
“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
“If you light a lamp for someone else, it will also brighten your path.”
“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.”
“There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.”
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”
“Joy comes not through possession or ownership but through a wise and loving heart.”
“Live joyfully, without attachment.”
“Happiness is a journey, not a destination.”
“Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.”
“It is better to travel well than to arrive.”
“When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”
“True love is born from understanding.”
“There is no fire like passion, no crime like hatred, no sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger, and no joy like the joy of freedom.”
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
Wisdom and Enlightenment
“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
“Do not believe anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.”
“The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.”
“In the end, these things matter most: How well did you love? How fully did you live? How deeply did you let go?”
“Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.”
“People with opinions just go around bothering each other.”
“There is no wealth like knowledge, and no poverty like ignorance.”
“You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.”
“An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.”
“Speak or act with a pure mind, and happiness will follow you as your shadow, unshakable.”
“As rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, do not burden your heart with judgments but rain your kindness equally on all.”
“It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.”
“With our thoughts, we make the world.”
“He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.”
“The wise man makes an island of himself that no flood can overwhelm.”
“You are the community now. Be a lamp for yourselves. Be your own refuge. Seek no other.”
“Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.”
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
Compassion and Kindness
“Resolutely train yourself to attain peace.”
“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think.”
“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
“He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.”
“Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little.”
“Kindness should become the natural way of life, not the exception.”
“Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind.”
“To understand everything is to forgive everything.”
“Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.”
“Radiate boundless love towards the entire world.”
“Give, even if you only have a little.”
“When you feel the suffering of every living thing in your own heart, that is consciousness.”
“True love is born from understanding.”
“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.”
“One moment can change a day, one day can change a life, and one life can change the world.”
“Silence the angry man with love. Silence the ill-natured man with kindness. Silence the miser with generosity. Silence the liar with truth.”
“To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.”
“As a water bead on a lotus leaf, as water on red lily, does not adhere, so the sage does not cling to the seen, the heard, or the sensed.”
“What you are is what you have been. What you’ll be is what you do now.”
“If we fail to look after others when they need help, who will look after us?”
Life and Suffering
“Life is suffering.”
“Pain is certain, suffering is optional.”
“All life is temporary.”
“Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.”
“There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.”
“He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.”
“The ignorant man is an ox. He grows in size, not in wisdom.”
“Life can only take place in the present moment. If we lose the present moment, we lose life.”
“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.”
“Be truthful; do not yield to anger. Give freely, even if you have but little.”
“The greatest prayer is patience.”
“Delight in meditation and solitude. Compose yourself, be happy. You are a seeker.”
“Do not overlook tiny good actions, thinking they are of no benefit; even tiny drops of water in the end will fill a huge vessel.”
“One who acts on truth is happy in this world and beyond.”
“Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes.”
“If a man going down into a river, swollen and swiftly flowing, is carried away by the current — how can he help others across?”
“All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If the mind is transformed, can wrong-doing remain?”
“Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.”
“Be a lamp unto yourself.”
“Live every act fully, as if it were your last.”
Mindfulness and Inner Peace
“Meditate… do not delay, lest you later regret it.”
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
“Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be filled with joy.”
“Your work is to discover your work and then, with all your heart, to give yourself to it.”
“Conquer the angry one by not getting angry; conquer the wicked by goodness; conquer the stingy by generosity, and the liar by speaking the truth.”
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.”
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.”
“Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.”
“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.”
“The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.”
“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”
“When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”
“Purity and impurity depend on oneself; no one can purify another.”
“By overcoming anger, the wise reap joy.”
“An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.”
“There is no fire like passion; there is no shark like hatred; there is no snare like folly; there is no torrent like greed.”
“When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”
“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”
“If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.”
Wisdom in Change and Letting Go
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
“Whatever has the nature of arising has the nature of ceasing.”
“To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.”
“A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving, and fearless then he is in truth called wise.”
“Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.”
“The root of suffering is attachment.”
“A jug fills drop by drop.”
“In separateness lies the world’s great misery; in compassion lies the world’s true strength.”
“To keep the body in good health is a duty; otherwise, we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”
“Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.”
“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness.”
“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.”
“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.”
“Do not resist change. Embrace it.”
“You can only lose what you cling to.”
“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.”
“Learn this from water: loud splashes the brook but the oceans’ depths are calm.”
“Wear your ego like a loose-fitting garment.”
“To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.”
“Everything changes, nothing remains without change.”
Goodbye! (farewell in Swedish: Adjö!)
