“Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.”

Everything sacred, nothing sacred.

I do not need any writing, since I transmit teaching beyond words and ideas.

You can’t know your real mind as long as you deceive yourself.

But deluded people don’t realize that their own mind is the Buddha. They keep searching outside.

But people of the deepest understanding look within, distracted by nothing. Since a clear mind is the Buddha, they attain the understanding of a Buddha without using the mind.

The essence of the Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances.

To go from mortal to Buddha, you have to put an end to karma, nurture your awareness, and accept what life brings.

This one life has no form and is empty by nature. If you become attached by any form, you should reject it. If you see an ego, a soul, a birth, or a death, reject them all.

Neither gods nor men can foresee when an evil deed will bear its fruit.

Reality has no inside, outside, or middle part.

One clings to life although there is nothing to be called life; another clings to death although there is nothing to be called death. In reality, there is nothing to be born; consequently, there is nothing to perish.

Mortals liberate Buddhas and Buddhas liberate mortals.

Those who worship don’t know, and those who know don’t worship.

People of this world are deluded. They’re always longing for something, always, in a word, seeking. But the wise wake up. They choose reason over custom. They fix their minds on the sublime and let their bodies change with the seasons.

Life and death are important. Don’t suffer them in vain.

According to the Sutras, evil deeds result in hardships and good deeds result in blessings.

I don’t feel anything when I watch Shaquille O’Neal play. I don’t feel anything coming off him.

Growing up, I never really felt like anything was my own. I moved a lot, and I never belonged anywhere.

Poor people will do almost anything to avoid problems. They see a challenge and they run…the secret to success, my friends, is not to try to avoid or get rid of or shrink from your problems; the secret is to grow yourself so that you are bigger than your problems.

I don’t have any feeling of accomplishment about anything unless there’s a lot of risk to it.

Day and night she had drudged and struggled and thrown her soul into her work, and there was not much of her left over for anything else.

I had come to a place where I was meant to be. I don’t mean anything so prosaic as a sense of coming home. This was different, very different. It was like arriving at a place much safer than home.

I always thought we had more in common with punk than with anything else, but we had long hair, so we didn’t fit in that box.

Men don’t want anything they get too easy. But on the other hand, men lose interest quickly.