Buddhism Quotes

Without discursive thought it is just dharma practice. Hope together with aim obscures. One does not cut through pride by meditatively cultivating the desire for happiness. If there is hope, even the hope for buddhas, it is a negative force. If there is apprehension, even apprehension about hells, it is a negative force.

~ Machik Labdrön

The Three Kinds of Pride are: (1) thinking I am better than the other(s), (2) thinking I am worse than the other(s), and (3) thinking I am just as good as the other(s).

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Almost all religions from Buddhism to Islam feature either a humble prophet or a prince who comes to identify with the poor, but what is this if not populism? It is hardly a surprise if religions choose to address themselves first to the majority who are poor and bewildered and uneducated.

~ Christopher Hitchens

For as long as space remains,For as long as sentient beings remain,Until then may I too remainTo dispel the miseries of the world.

~ Acharya Shantideva

The idea persists that faith is a remnant of an ancient way of life, a way of knowing that asks for unthinking acceptance of a belief system or adherence to specific dogma. This may be the case for some spiritual traditions, but the Buddha insisted that his disciples investigate his teachings with the powers of reason, test them in the inner laboratory of meditation, and build their faith on a firm foundation of knowledge. As a result, faith in the Dharma implies faith in one's ability to recognize truth when it presents itself and to take responsibility for verifying it through analysis and meditative experience.

~ Dharma Publishing

We must conduct research and then accept the results. If they don't stand up to experimentation, Buddha's own words must be rejected.

~ Dalai Lama Xiv

The horns of a rabbit do not inherently exist because they do not exist at all. The mere realization of their non-existence reveals that the horns of a rabbit do not inherently exist; therefore, the non-inherent existence of the horns of a rabbit is not an emptiness. An emptiness is not understood through realizing the mere non-existence of an object; it is known through comprehending in an existent object the absence of the quality of inherent or objective existence.

~ Jeffrey Hopkins

The thinking brain influences the body’s responses and it makes a neat little loop.

~ Brad Warner

We cannot learn real patience and tolerance from a guru or a friend. They can be practiced only when we come in contact with someone who creates unpleasant experiences.

~ Dalai Lama Xiv

Patience from a Buddhist perspective is not a wait and see attitude, but rather one of just be there... Patience can also be based on not expecting anything.Think of patience as an act of being open to whatever comes your way. When you begin to solidify expectations, you get frustrated because they are not met in the way you had hoped... With no set idea of how something is supposed to be, it is hard to get stuck on things not happening in the time frame you desired. Instead, you are just being there, open to the possibilities of your life.

~ Lodro Rinzler

Patience is the training in abiding with the restlessness of our energy and letting things evolve at their own speed.

~ Pema Chödrön

Tune as the sitthar, neither high nor low, and we will dance away the hearts of men.

~ Gautama Buddha

After all, what Buddhism offers as a solution is universalised indifference - a learning of how to withdraw from too much empathy. This is why Buddhism can so easily turn into the very opposite of universal compassion: the advocacy of a ruthless military attitude, which is what the fate of Zen Buddhism aptly demonstrates.

~ Slavoj Žižek

A smile is the most beautiful colour in the world.

~ Xingyun

You only lose what you cling to.

~ Gautama Buddha

1. Accept everything just the way it is.2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake.3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.5. Be detached from desire your whole life long.6. Do not regret what you have done.7. Never be jealous.8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others.10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.11. In all things have no preferences.12. Be indifferent to where you live.13. Do not pursue the taste of good food.14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need.15. Do not act following customary beliefs.16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful.17. Do not fear death.18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age.19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honour.21. Never stray from the Way.

~ Miyamoto Musashi

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

~ Pema Chödrön

We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.

~ Hermann Hesse

Now, Kalamas, don’t go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, ‘This contemplative is our teacher.’ When you know for yourselves that, ‘These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to welfare & to happiness’ — then you should enter & remain in

~ Gautama Buddha

It is like a lighted torch whose flame can be distributed to ever so many other torches which people may bring along; and therewith they will cook food and dispel darkness, while the original torch itself remains burning ever the same. It is even so with the bliss of th

~ Gautama Buddha

Greater in battlethan the man who would conquera thousand-thousand men,is he who would conquerjust one —himself.Better to conquer yourselfthan others.When you've trained yourself,living in constant self-control,neither a deva nor gandhabba,nor a Mara banded with Brahmas,could turn that triumphback into defeat.

~ Gautama Buddha

People get into a heavy-duty sin and guilt trip, feeling that if things are going wrong, that means that they did something bad and they are being punished. That's not the idea at all. The idea of karma is that you continually get the teachings that you need to open your heart. To the degree that you didn't understand in the past how to stop protecting your soft spot, how to stop armoring your heart, you're given this gift of teachings in the form of your life, to give you everything you need to open further.

~ Pema Chödrön

Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else.

~ Shunryu Suzuki

Purity or impurity depends on oneself,No one can purify another.

~ Gautama Buddha

Long is the night to him who is awake, long is a mile to him who is tired, long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.

~ Gautama Buddha

There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. There will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.

~ Tsunetomo Yamamoto

O snailClimb Mount FujiBut slowly, slowly!

~ Kobayashi Issa

Where there are humans, You'll find flies,And Buddhas.

~ Kobayashi Issa

Being vegetarian here also means that we do not consume dairy and egg products, because they are products of the meat industry. If we stop consuming, they will stop producing. Only collective awakening can create enough determination for action.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Many do not realize that we here must die. For those who realize this, quarrels end.

~ Anonymous

As human beings, not only do we seek resolution, but we also feel that we deserve resolution. However, not only do we not deserve resolution, we suffer from resolution. We don't deserve resolution; we deserve something better than that. We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind that can relax with paradox and ambiguity.

~ Pema Chödrön

True change is within, leave the outside as it is.

~ Dalai Lama Xiv

To dwell in the here and now does not mean you never think about the past or responsibly plan for the future. The idea is simply not to allow yourself to get lost in regrets about the past or worries about the future. If you are firmly grounded in the present moment, the past can be an object of inquiry, the object of your mindfulness and concentration. You can attain many insights by looking into the past. But you are still grounded in the present moment.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

We are such spendthrifts with our lives, the trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.

~ Paul Newman

The Buddha's original teaching is essentially a matter of four points -- the Four Noble Truths:1. Anguish is everywhere.2. We desire permanent existence of ourselves and for our loved ones, and we desire to prove ourselves independent of others and superior to them. These desires conflict with the way things are: nothing abides, and everything and everyone depends upon everything and everyone else. This conflict causes our anguish, and we project this anguish on those we meet.3. Release from anguish comes with the personal acknowledgment and resolve: we are here together very briefly, so let us accept reality fully and take care of one another while we can.4. This acknowledgement and resolve are realized by following the Eightfold Path: Right Views, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Recollection, and Right Meditation. Here Right means correct or accurate -- in keeping with the reality of impermanence and interdependence.

~ Robert Aitken

The heart is what is important. There is nothing more vulnerable, nothing more corruptible than the human mind; nor is there anything as powerful, steadfast and ennobling.

~ Daisaku Ikeda

Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

...for you know that soft is stronger than hard, water stronger than rock, love stronger than force. Vesadeva to Siddartha

~ Hermann Hesse

Buddhism holds that everything is in constant flux. Thus the question is whether we are to accept change passively and be swept away by it or whether we are to take the lead and create positive changes on our own initiative. While conservatism and self-protection might be likened to winter, night, and death, the spirit of pioneering and attempting to realize ideals evokes images of spring, morning, and birth.

~ Daisaku Ikeda

Pain is not wrong. Reacting to pain as wrong initiates the trance of unworthiness. The moment we believe something is wrong, our world shrinks and we lose ourselves in the effort to combat the pain.

~ Tara Brach