Those who follow the Dao turn away from self-interest and look to the source of all things.

Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. There is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting point.

Forget the years, forget distinctions. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!

The sage leans on the sun and moon, tucks the universe under his arm, and merges with the seamless whole.

He who knows the joy of Heaven lives with Heaven's quiet rhythm; in death he changes form with the cosmos.

Look at that empty room: within its bareness, light is born.

Sitting in forgetfulness (Zuowang): I slough off my limbs, dismiss my intellect, and merge with the Great Pervader.

The Dao cannot be heard; what is heard is not the Dao. The Dao cannot be seen; what is seen is not the Dao.

The butterfly flutters without knowing it was ever a caterpillar; the soul transforms without clinging to its former husk.

Death is simply going home. Why should we weep when a traveler completes his long wanderings?

The universe gave me a body, burdened me with life, eased me with old age, and rests me with death. What makes my life good makes my death good.

The sage hides the world in the world, so that nothing can ever be lost.

Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and you are the mirror.

Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.

Say not, 'I have found the path of the soul.' Say rather, 'I have met the soul walking upon my path.'

For the soul walks upon all paths. The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

And there are those who have the truth within them, but they tell it not in words. In the bosom of such as these the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.

If you sing of beauty though alone in the heart of the desert you will have an audience.

The timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness, and knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.

And is not that which sings and contemplates in you still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space?

And is not time even as love is, undivided and spaceless?

Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.

Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king? Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?

And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

When you reach the end of what you should know, you will be at the beginning of what you should sense.

I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.

I have learned so much from God that I can no longer call myself a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew. The Truth has shared so much of Itself with me that I can no longer call myself a man, a woman, an angel, or even a pure soul.

Tear off the veil of solemn piety; the tavern of divine love welcomes only those who dare to be drunk on truth.

Now is the time to know that all that you do is sacred.

Now, why not surrender to the divine beauty that turns every speck of dust into a blazing star?

I am a hole in a flute that the Christ's breath moves through—listen to this music!

Set your house on fire with divine love, and warm yourself by the golden blaze.

The secret of the universe is hidden inside a drop of wine: drink deeply of awareness and be reborn.

When the musician touches the harp of devotion, even the angels in heaven lean down to listen.

The tavern of love has no locks on its door; enter freely, leave your ego at the threshold, and drink of eternity.

The bird of the soul was not made to peck at crumbs on the ground; its home is the vast expanse of Heaven.

The true mosque of God is built not of bricks and mortar, but of the pure and compassionate heart.

Do not worship the ashes of yesterday's fire; kindle the flame of devotion here and now.

The soul is an eternal guest in the tent of the body; treat the traveler with royal honor.

The flute is silent until breath fills its hollow; let yourself become empty so the divine melody can pour through you.

The greatest secret of life is that the Beloved was never absent for even a single breath.

The night sky is an open letter written in silver stars, telling you that you are never alone.

The lover of God sleeps upon the bare earth and dreams of palaces of light.

The true jewel of the heart is forged in the furnace of longing and polished by the waters of grace.

We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.

If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere.

Enlightenment is when a wave realizes it is the ocean.

The wave does not need to die to become water. She is already water.

You do not need to seek enlightenment in the future; your true nature is already pristine, pure, and awake.

When we touch the present moment with awareness, we touch the historical and the ultimate dimensions at the same time.

In the ultimate dimension, there is no birth and no death, no coming and no going.

Clouds never die. A cloud can only become rain or snow or ice.

The kingdom of God is available here and now. The question is whether you are available to the kingdom.

In every breath, the entire cosmos breathes with you.

I have dropped my fear of the dark, for the dark is where the Beloved paints the stars.

The wound is the place where the light enters you.

What you seek is seeking you.

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

You cannot find peace by avoiding life.

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.