Best 1132 quotes in «buddhist quotes» category

Ye must leave righteous ways behind, not to speak of unrighteous ways.

Yoga has brought me closer to myself. It's helped me realize the interconnectedness of the mind, body and spirit, in the Buddhist sense of the word.

You are a part of everything. You are like the guys in the bar and that gal on the corner with the red dress. We are a little bit of everyone. Let's not get too fancy here.

You are never alone or helpless. The force that guides the stars guides you too.

You can call it tathata, suchness. 'Suchness' is a Buddhist way of expressing that there is something in you which always remains in its intrinsic nature, never changing. It always remains in its selfsame essence, eternally so. That is your real nature. That which changes is not you, that is mind. That which does not change in you is buddha-mind. You can call it no-mind, you can call it samadhi, satori. It depends upon you; you can give it whatsoever name you want. You can call it christ-consciousness.

You can only lose what you cling to.

You grow, learn, and the more I can sit in silence and be comfortable with myself, the more I can make noise, as ironic and Zen Buddhist and satanic as it sounds!

You have to come to the world of enlightenment with open hands, not clinched fists, without an agenda.

You haven't partied until you've partied at dawn in complete silence with Buddhist monks.

You know the Buddhists believe that sometimes when everything is in turmoil, it's because something wonderful is ready to be born and that thing is distracting you so it can have some privacy during the birthing process.

You have two gardens: your own garden and that of your beloved. First, you have to take care of your own garden and master the art of gardening. In each one of us there are flowers and there is also garbage. The garbage is the anger, fear, discrimination, and jealousy within us. If you water the garbage, you will strengthen the negative seeds. If you water the flowers of compassion, understanding, and love, you will strengthen the positive seeds. What you grow is up to you.

You must be accommodating with your teacher. You must have a sense of humor about your teacher and the impossible things they ask you to do.

You may be Catholic or Protestant or Buddhist or Baptist or Muslim or Mormon or Jewish or Jain, or you have no religion at all. I'm not interested in your religious background. Because God did not create the universe for us to have religion. He came for us to have a relationship with him.

You need to search your awareness and consider the limitless possibilities of existence in all things and not be so narrow-minded in your self-discovery.

Your body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care.

You need to have the humility to accept your limitations as long as they're there, and have the humility to accept their end when that time comes.

Your breathing should flow gracefully, like a river, like a watersnake crossing the water, and not like a chain of rugged mountains or the gallop of a horse. To master our breath is to be in control of our bodies and minds. Each time we find ourselves dispersed and find it difficult to gain control of ourselves by different means, the method of watching the breath should always be used.

You see, Buddhists are optimists. We never saw sunsets in Atlantis like we do now. We didn't have those great chemicals in the air.

Your mantrum is the awareness of the dream - to enjoy and appreciate and have gratitude for all; neither to condemn nor to liberate, but to observe.

Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.

You've gained some powers by your entrance into other dimensions and you use them to attack others or to make others miserable, then power reverses on you and it pulls you apart because it's not supposed to be used that way.

You've got a lifetime to mull over the Buddhist understanding of interconnectedness." He spoke every sentence as if he'd written it down, memorized it, and was now reciting it. "But while you were looking out the window, you missed the chance to explore the equally interesting Buddhist belief in being present for every facet of your daily life, of being truly present. Be present in this class. And then, when it's over, be present out there," he said, nodding toward the lake and beyond.' ~Dr. Hyde, pg 50

Zen and Buddhism have produced martial arts, because of the Buddhist injunction against weapons.

You yourself must strive. The Buddhas only point the way.

Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.

You yourself must make an effort. Buddhas are only show the way. The thoughtful who enter the way are freed from the bondage of defilements.

But even though there´s no more hope, again there´s no need to harm yourself, despite your feeling as if there´s no ground beneath you and no choice in any direction. But when we do let go, how wonderful. We discover that the darkness is actually full of light.

According to your holy book, every single Buddhist, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, follower of various minor traditions or sects, those who do not affiliate themselves with a religious tradition and the approximately 2.74 billion humans who have never had the 'privilege' of hearing the word of your Messiah will be sentenced to eternal damnation in a lake of fire—regardless of moral standings or positive worldly accomplishments. If this sounds like a fair proposition to you, then I bite my tongue—but I honestly believe that the majority of Christians do not agree with these doctrinal assertions, and instead categorize themselves as 'Christians' out of cultural familiarity or perhaps out of complete ignorance in regards to the topic.

Activities such as chanting, bowing, and sitting in zazen are not at all wasted, even when done merely formally, for even this superficial encounter with the Dharma will have some wholesome outcome at a later time. However, it must be said in the most unambiguous terms that this is not real Zen. To follow the Dharma involves a complete reorientation of one's life in such a way that one's activities are manifestations of, and are filled with, a deeper meaning. If it were not otherwise, and merely sitting in zazen were enough, every frog in the pond would be enlightened, as one Zen master said. Dōgen Zenji himself said that one must practice Zen with the attitude of a person trying to extinguish a fire in his hair. That is, Zen must be practiced with an attitude of single-minded urgency.

As a Buddhist I was determined to root out all desires, including especially my “sick” desire for other boys and men. Only through ridding myself of all “hankerings” could I achieve nirvana and escape the endless cycle of rebirth. The odd thing is that the transmigration of the soul from one body (old and ailing) into another (a happy baby’s) didn’t sound so bad—in fact, it was what most Americans longed for.

As I indicated in an earlier chapter, it is so important to pause and think through some of these basic issues while you are young, before the pressures of job and family become distracting. Everyone must deal with the eternal questions sooner or later. You will benefit, I think, from doing that work now. As I said earlier, whether you are an atheist, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew, a New Ager, an agnostic, or a Christian, the questions confronting the human family are the same. Only the answers will differ.

A man is born to become God, and this is the principle. A rose flower is grown in a rose plant. In the same fashion whether a man knows or not, a perpetual action is running within him, how he will be transformed into God. This action is termed as perpetual change by the Buddhists. No! this is not the perpetual change, but should be termed as perpetual evolution.

A person of little knowledge Grows old as a plough-ox grows old. His fleshes increases; His wisdom does not increase.

As a Buddhist, I see no distinction between religious practice and daily life. Religious practice is a twenty-four hour occupation.

Better than a thousand sayings Made up of useless words Is one word of meaning Which calms you to hear it.

But the scent of the good is blown against the wind: A good man perfumes all directions.

Enlightenment is possible - for everyone.

Cause and effect, in the Buddhist sense, though. Any action you undertake creates a seed that will sprout when the conditions are right, creating a good or bad result." "Do you believe in it?" He doesn’t allow even a pause. “Very much so.

Clothed in facts truth feels oppressed. In the garb of poetry it moves easy and free.

I believe in kindness and karma—which could make me a Buddhist. I believe in mystic healing and crystals’ powers—which could make me a witch. I believe in truth, honor, and forgiveness—which could make me a Christian. I even believe in the existence of past lives and that each and every one of us is watched over by guides from the other side—which, to some, would make me totally woo-woo squared.

God is not Christian. God is not Muslim. God is not Buddhist. God is love.

He encapsulated his teachings in a single law: suffering arises from craving; the only way to be fully liberated from suffering is to be fully liberated from craving; and the only way to be liberated from craving is to train the mind to experience reality as it is.

From the dear comes grief; From the dear comes fear. If you're freed from the dear You'll have no grief, let alone fear.

If a person shows anger to you, and you show anger in return, the result is disaster. If you nurse hatred, you will never be happy, even in the lap of luxury. By contrast, if you control your anger and show its opposite - love, compassion, tolerance, and patience - then not only do you remain in peace, but gradually the anger of others also will diminish.

I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some kind of a Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.

I do not believe in religion, but if I had to choose one, it would be Buddhism. It seems more livable, closer to men.

If there is no wound in your hand You can carry poison in your hand. Poison does not attack one who is unwounded. There is no evil for one who does not do evil.

In temples you find religion, but in hearts you find God.

If you look at the definitions of misandrics and misogynists, it's relatively easy to see, the amount of misandrics at any one time, is equal to the amount of misogynists, as the Buddhists say, the Universe is always in total balance.

Imagine an Englishman, a Frenchman, a Chinese and an Indonesian all looking at a cup. The Englishman says, ‘That is a cup.’ The French-man answers, ‘No it’s not. It’s a tasse.’ Then the Chinese comments, ‘You are both wrong. It’s a pei.’ Finally the Indonesian man laughs at the others and says ‘What fools you are. It’s a cawan.’ Then the Englishman get a dictionary and shows it to the others saying, ‘I can prove that it is a cup. My dictionary says so.’ ‘Then your dictionary is wrong,’ says the Frenchman, ‘because my dictionary clearly says it is a tasse.’ The Chinese scoffs; ‘My dictionary says it’s a pei and my dictionary is thousands of years older than yours so it must be right. And besides, more people speak Chinese than any other language, so it must be a pei.’ While they are squabbling and arguing with each other, a another man comes up, drinks from the cup and then says to the others, ‘Whether you call it a cup, a tasse, a pei or a cawan, the purpose of the cup is to hold water so that it can be drunk. Stop arguing and drink, stop squabbling and refresh your thirst.’ This is the Buddhist attitude to other religions.