At its heart, Buddhism is very practical. It’s about doing things that foster serenity, happiness, and confidence, and avoid things that provoke anxiety, hopelessness, and fear. The essence of Buddhist practice is not so much an effort at changing your thoughts or your behavior so that you can become a better person, but in realizing that no matter what you might think about the circumstances that define your life, you’re already good, whole, and complete. It’s about recognizing the inherent potential of your mind. In other words, Buddhism is not so much concerned with getting well as with recognizing that you are, right here, right now, as whole, as good, as essentially well as you could ever hope to be.

Mingyur Rinpoche

from the book The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness

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Further quotes from the book The Joy of Living:

• Meditation on compassion
• What Buddhists mean by happiness
• Just observe it
• Setting the tone for your entire day
• Your mind just as it is
• Importance of the motivation
• Being diligent
• The best part of all
• Oh, this is how my mind works
• Trying to do your best
• Neither rejecting nor accepting
• Nothing more than the natural function of the mind
• Thinking of yourself as limited
• The practice of simply observing
• Essentially good
• An experience of absolute well-being
• The need to look at the mind
• Never disturbed
• Becoming aware