Gautama Buddha Quotes
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We begin to die from the moment we are born, for birth is the cause of death. The nature of decay is inherent in youth, the nature of sickness is inherent in health, in the midst of life we are verily in death.
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No one outside ourselves can rule us inwardly. When we know this, we become free.
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Your worst enemy is your best teacher.
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One moment can change a day, One day can change a life and One life can change the world.
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Most problems, if you give them enough time and space, will eventually wear themselves out.
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Remember, the greatest gift to give people your enlightenment, to share it. It has to be the greatest.
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The world is afflicted by death and decay. But the wise do not grieve, having realized the nature of the world.
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Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be filled with joy.
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When you move your focus from competition to contribution life becomes a celebration. Never try to defeat people, just win their hearts.
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All beings tremble before violence. All love life. All fear death. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?
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A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!
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I consider the positions of kings and rulers as that of dust motes. I observe treasures of gold and gems as so many bricks and pebbles. I look upon the finest silken robes as tattered rags. I see myriad worlds of the universe as small seeds of fruit, and the greatest lake on Earth as a drop of oil on my foot.
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As rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, do not burden your heart with judgments but rain your kindness equally on all.
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This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance. A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky, Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.
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Know all things to be like this: A mirage, a cloud castle, A dream, an apparition, Without essence, but with qualities that can be seen. Know all things to be like this: As the moon in a bright sky In some clear lake reflected, Though to that lake the moon has never moved. Know all things to be like this: As an echo that derives From music, sounds, and weeping, Yet in that echo is no melody. Know all things to be like this: As a magician makes illusions Of horses, oxen, carts and other things, Nothing is as it appears.
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Believe nothing on the faith of traditions, even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it. Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined, persuading yourself that a God inspires you. Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests. After examination, believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.
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In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves. This is a helpful pointer for our everyday presence-practice. Can you catch yourself angrily defending your point of view or attacking the other person's? There's the ego.
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If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another.
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Concentrate the mind on the present moment.
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The judgment: You are now before Yama, King of the Dead. In vain will you try to...deny or conceal the evil deeds you have done. ... the mirror in which Yama seems to read your past is your own memory, and also his judgment is your own. It is you yourself who pronounce your own judgment.
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As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise you will miss most of your life.
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Do not speak - unless it improves on silence.
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There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.
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All life is temporary Why worry about anything that's only temporary