“Things are simply the way they are. They don’t give us suffering. Like a thorn: Does a sharp thorn give us suffering?”

Whatever he taught, we should practise it. Only bowing to him is not enough. We need to renounce, give up, stop, so that we may see the Buddha.

One day some people came to the master and asked: How can you be happy in a world of such impermanence, where you cannot protect your loved ones from harm, illness or death?

Your only job is to stay in your seat. You will see it all arise and pass, and out of this, wisdom and understanding will come.

Therefore we have to train our mind. The meditation practice in Buddhism is all about training one’s own mind.

When nature finally calls, they have no idea where to go and are in a mess.

If you reflect in this way, you will have peace. Wherever you are, you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly.

When coming out of sitting, don’t think that you’re coming out of meditation, but that you are only changing postures.

You should think about your own death 3 times per day at the very least.

The ultimate truth is like the flavour of an apple which you can’t see with the eye or hear with the ear.

See the world as a mirror. It is all a reflection of the mind. When you know this, you can grow in every moment, and every experience reveals truth and brings understanding.

Just go into the room, sit in the centre of the room, open the doors and windows, and see who comes to visit.

The heart of the path is quite easy.

With even a little intuitive wisdom we will be able to see clearly the ways of the world.

I am like a tree in a forest. Birds come to the tree, they sit on its branches and eat its fruits.

When we see beyond self, we no longer cling to happiness. And when we stop clinging, we can begin to be happy.

When suffering arises, where does it arise from? The cause is wrong view, the fruit of that being suffering. If it was right view it wouldn’t cause suffering.

The pessimist is seldom an agitating individual. His creed breeds indifference to others, and he does not trouble himself to thrust his views upon the unconvinced.

Art… does not take kindly to facts, is helpless to grapple with theories, and is killed outright by a sermon.

I shall show that the place does not honor the man, but the man the place.

Every ruler must remember three things. Firstly, that he rules man; secondly, that he rules according to law, and thirdly, that he does not rule for ever.

If the present civilisation does not acquire some stable moral fondations (“bases morales stables”, Fr.), its existence will hardly be more assured than that of the civilisations that have preceeded it, and which have fallen (or collapse, or failed).

To be complex does not mean to be fragmented.

One attacks those who possess things that one does not possess. The attack is all the more savage because the one who attacks is destitute and the one who is attacked is well provided.

I don’t admire how much a person has, I admire what a person does with what they have and I think that defines you most.