Freedom is the basic condition for you to touch life, to touch the blue sky, the trees, the birds, the tea, and the other person.

Eating mindfully is a most important practice of meditation. We can eat in a way that we restore the cookie of our childhood. The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.

Mother Earth is very talented. She has produced Buddhas, bodhisattvas, great beings.

In the past there were people who were not rich but contented with their living style, laughing and happy all day. But when the new rich people appear, people look at them and ask why don't I have a life like that too, a beautiful house, car and garden and they abandon their values.

The source of a true smile is an awakened mind. Smiling helps you approach the day with gentleness and understanding.

Nonviolent action, born of the awareness of suffering and nurtured by love, is the most effective way to confront adversity.

In April, we cannot see sunflowers in France, so we might say the sunflowers do not exist. But the local farmers have already planted thousands of seeds, and when they look at the bare hills, they may be able to see the sunflowers already. The sunflowers are there. They lack only the conditions of sun, heat, rain and July. Just because we cannot see them does not mean that they do not exist.