Best 109 quotes in «dharma quotes» category

It is possible to refine awareness itself so much that the emptiness of things, and the role mental construction plays, becomes a directly apprehended reality.

It's impossible to fall of mountains you fool!

Naturally occurring timeless awareness—utterly lucid awakened mind— is something marvelous and superb, primordially and spontaneously present. It is the treasury from which comes the universe of appearances and possibilities, whether of samsara or nirvana. Homage to the unwavering state, free of elaborations.

Never sit under a tree waiting for the apple to fall. Climb the tree, grab that apple! When it comes, never be inert and take your time, TIME TO MOVE!

Now I know what success is: living your truth, sharing it.

Non-violence is so deeply embedded into the Indian psyche that people avoid fighting even when they should—against injustice and unrighteousness. Indian masses are by nature so non-violent that God himself had to take birth in human form to establish Dharma and do the (dirty) job of killing the unrighteous.

Only one kind of religion cannot give peace to everyone. Whatever ‘degree’ one is sitting at, that ‘degree’ of religion he requires.

Of course, even when you see the world as a trap and posit a fundamental separation between liberation of self and transformation of society, you can still feel a compassionate impulse to help its suffering beings. In that case you tend to view the personal and the political in a sequential fashion. "I'll get enlightened first, and then I'll engage in social action." Those who are not engaged in spiritual pursuits put it differently: "I'll get my head straight first, I'll get psychoanalyzed, I'll overcome my inhibitions or neuroses or my hang-ups (whatever description you give to samsara) and then I'll wade into the fray." Presupposing that world and self are essentially separate, they imagine they can heal one before healing the other. This stance conveys the impression that human consciousness inhabits some haven, or locker-room, independent of the collective situation -- and then trots onto the playing field when it is geared up and ready. It is my experience that the world itself has a role to play in our liberation. Its very pressures, pains, and risks can wake us up -- release us from the bonds of ego and guide us home to our vast, true nature. For some of us, our love of the world is so passionate that we cannot ask it to wait until we are enlightened.

One’s Use of Life’, if turns into worldly selfishness is called adharma (irreligion), and if it turns into spiritual selfishness (towards true self) is called dharma (religion).

Our conduct determines our fate, not our birth

Religion [dharma] is that where there is no irreligion (adharma, immorality). Religion cannot exist where there is irreligion. There can be only one or the other. Behind every intention, there is either [the force of] religion or [the force of] irreligion.

Religion (dharma) is decrease in kashay (anger, pride, deceit and greed) and increase of kashay is irreligion (adharma). When Kashay goes away (completely) is the religion of the Self (Soul).

Religion (Dharma) begins with an obliging nature.

Religion [dharma] originates where there is doer-ship [to do], Moksha [ultimate liberation] originates where there is understanding (to understand).

Religion has to be protected; difference of opinion is not to be protected.

Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

Suppose a man threw into the sea a yoke with one hole in it, and the east wind carried it to the west, and the west wind carried it to the east, and the north wind carried it to the south, and the south wind carried it to the north. Suppose there were a blind turtle that came up once at the end of each century. What do you think, bhikkhus? Would that blind turtle put his neck into that yoke with one hole in it?" "He might, venerable sir, sometime or other at the end of a long period." "Bhikkhus, the blind turtle would sooner put his neck into that yoke with a single hole in it than a fool, once gone to perdition, would take to regain the human state, I say. Why is that? Because there is no practising of the Dhamma there, no practising of what is righteous, no doing of what is wholesome, no performance of merit. There mutual devouring prevails, and the slaughter of the weak.

That which reduces our flawed vision is called religion [dharma]. It is non-religion [adharma] that increases a flawed vision. The worldly life is indeed the result of a flawed vision.

The Buddhadharma is not, however, associated with the practice of being a candy-ass.

The Chinese ideograph for forbearance is a heart with a sword dangling over it, another instance of language's brilliant way of showing us something surprising and important fossilized inside the meaning of a word. Vulnerability is built into our hearts, which can be sliced open at any moment by some sudden shift in the arrangements, some pain, some horror, some hurt. We all know and instinctively fear this, so we protect our hearts by covering them against exposure. But this doesn't work. Covering the heart binds and suffocates it until, like a wound that has been kept dressed for too long, the heart starts to fester and becomes fetid. Eventually, without air, the heart is all but killed off, and there's no feeling, no experiencing at all. To practice forbearance is to appreciate and celebrate the heart's vulnerability, and to see that the slicing or piercing of the heart does not require defense; that the heart's vulnerability is a good thing, because wounds can make us more peaceful and more real—if, that is, we are willing to hang on to the leopard of our fear, the serpent of our grief, the boar of our shame without running away or being hurled off. Forbearance is simply holding on steadfastly with whatever it is that unexpectedly arises: not doing anything; not fixing anything (because doing and fixing can be a way to cover up the heart, to leap over the hurt and pain by occupying ourselves with schemes and plans to get rid of it.) Just holding on for hear life. Holding on with what comes is what makes life dear. ...Simply holding on this way may sound passive. Forbearance has a bad reputation in our culture, whose conventional wisdom tells us that we ought to solve problems, fix what's broken, grab what we want, speak out, shake things up, make things happen. And should none of this work out, then we are told we ought to move on, take a new tack, start something else. But this line of thinking only makes sense when we are attempting to gain external satisfaction. It doesn't take into account internal well-being; nor does it engage the deeper questions of who you really are and what makes you truly happy, questions that no one can ignore for long... Insofar as forbearance helps us to embrace transformative energy and allow its magic to work on us... forbearance isn't passive at all. It's a powerfully active spiritual force, (67-70).

There is no dharma greater than a word uttered by a man of conscience; there is no karma greater than a man listening to himself! Since an intention precedes action, it should be the reference point for any action.

Simply put, DHARMA is Dhya (Aim) mein (unto) raman (walkabout) - Sojourn Unto the [Ultimate] Aim [the Truth of What Is- God].

That what keeps us supported is dharma (religion).

That which frees one from bondage is the right religion.

The aim of far too many teachings these days is to make people "feel good," and even some Buddhist masters are beginning to sound like New Age apostles. Their talks are entirely devoted to validating the manifestation of ego and endorsing the "rightness" of our feelings, neither of which have anything to do with the teachings we find in the pith instructions. So, if you are only concerned about feeling good, you are far better off having a full body massage or listening to some uplifting or life-affirming music than receiving dharma teachings, which were definitely not designed to cheer you up. On the contrary, the dharma was devised specifically to expose your failings and make you feel awful.

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.

The entire teaching of Buddhism can be summed up in this way: Nothing is worth holding on to.

The extent to which dharma practice has been institutionalized as a religion can be gauged by the number of consolatory elements that have crept in: for example, assurances of a better afterlife if you perform virtuous deeds or recite mantras or chant the name of a Buddha.

We are animals descended from five billion years of wanting, striving, and seeking. And life just doesn’t cooperate. So we suffer. And so the solution to that problem is to upgrade our minds, in a distinctly ‘unnatural’ way, so that the mind clings less and lets go more.

To eat, drink, arise, awake etc. are all religion (dharma) of the body. One has not come into one’s own Self Religion (atma dharma) even for a second. Had he done so, he would never ever leave God.

Vaasudeva, put all that is in you into the deed which confronts you and perform it with faith in the Great God. That is what your life is for, and that is your empire which no king can filch.

Whatever human endeavor we choose, as long as we live our truth, it is success.

What does religion say? It says that if you care for others then you will meet others who will care for you and if you hit others, you will meet others who will hit you. This is what all relative religions say.

What makes an action positive or negative? Not how it looks, not whether it is big or small, but it is the positive or negative motivation that is behind it. No matter how many teachings that you have heard, to be motivated by ordinary concerns, such as a desire for greatness, fame or whatever, is not the way of the true Dharma.

What is the nature of the Self (Soul)? To ‘see’ the dharma (function) of everything, to see ‘who is performing what function, and how that function is being performed.’ To ‘see’ it, is called the function of the Self (Soul).

When we package the Dharma in a flashy box with no contents, we offer only the skin of Dharma. It might be better for authentic Dharma to die than to establish large groups and spew out teachers regurgitating sound bites like those that sell special transient mind-states as the Buddha mind.

When I chose to be fearless, I chose freedom for myself.

While happiness is an end in itself, it is also the state of mind we can have right now.

Where slightest of conflict exists, there is neither God nor Religion.

Wherever there is kashay, there is no religion of the Vitarag at all. God does not want one to renounce anything. One needs to become free from kashays. Kashay-free state is considered the religion of moksha, while renouncing is considered religion of the world.

When you practice what is right even though you do not like doing it, and avoid what is wrong, even though you want to do it, you slowly change. Later, you find yourself in a position where what is to be done is what you like to do and what is not to be done is what you do not like to do. That is, indeed, a successful life.

Where there is no peace; there is not the slightest religion there.

Where there is religion (religious following), there are no worries and where there are worries, there is no religion there.

Whole world is not looking for religion, it is looking for its own safe side.

A great gift - a gift of Dharma conquers all gifts.

You can't protect Dharma if you don't know what it is.

An Awakened person is someone who finds freedom in good fortune and bad.

Ahimsa is the height of Kshatriya dharma as it represents the climax of fearlessness.

As far as sitcoms go, I thought Jenna Elfman in 'Dharma and Greg' was a wonderful physical comedienne who had great timing.

Dharma is not upheld by talking about it. Dharma is upheld by living in harmony with it.