Meditation is not to avoid society; it is to look deep to have the kind of insight you need to take action. To think that it is just to sit down and enjoy the calm and peace, is wrong.

We may think of peace as the absence of war, that if the great powers would reduce their weapons arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we will see our own minds - our own prejudices, fears, and ignorance.

A bodhisattva doesn't have to be perfect. Anyone who is aware of what is happening and who tries to wake up other people is a bodhisattva. We are all bodhisattvas, doing our best.

In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.

If you find yourself in some difficulty, step aside, and allow Buddha to take your place. The Buddha is in you.

If you think that peace and happiness are somewhere else and you run after them, you will never arrive.

Our capacity to make peace with another person and with the world depends very much on our capacity to make peace with ourselves.