Gautama Buddha Quotes
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Pain in life is inevitable but suffering is not. Pain is what the world does to you, suffering is what you do to yourself by the way you think about the 'pain' you receive. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. You can always be grateful that the pain is not worse in quality, quantity, frequency, duration, etc
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The virtuous man delights in this world and he delights in the next.
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Friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee of peace.
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Wakefulness is the way to life. The fool sleeps As if he were already dead, But the master is awake And he lives forever.
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An unreflective mind is a poor roof. Passion, like the rain, floods the house. But if the roof is strong, there is shelter. Whoever follows impure thoughts Suffers in this world and the next. In both worlds he suffers And how greatly.
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Everything is based on mind, is led by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak and act with a polluted mind, suffering will follow you, as the wheels of the oxcart follow the footsteps of the ox. Everything is based on mind, is led by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak and act with a pure mind, happiness will follow you, as a shadow clings to a form.
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Seeker, empty the boat, lighten the load, be free of craving and judgment and hatred, and feel the joy of the way.
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The one who wanders independent in the world, free from opinions and viewpoints, does not grasp them and enter into disputations and arguments. As the lotus rises on its stalk unsoiled by the mud and the water, so the wise one speaks of peace and is unstained by the opinions of the world.
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If there is a God, it is inconceivable that he would be concerned about my day to day affairs.
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If a man can control his body and mind and thereby refrains from eating animal flesh and wearing animal products, I say he will really be liberated.
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Through our senses the world appears. Through our reactions we create delusions.Without reactions the world becomes clear.
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Those who awaken never rest in one place. Like swans, they rise and leave the lake. On the air they rise and fly an invisible course. Their food is knowledge. They live on emptiness. They have seen how to break free. Who can follow them?
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Good men and bad men differ radically. Bad men never appreciate kindness shown them, but wise men appreciate and are grateful. Wise men try to express their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to everyone else.
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When a man venerates those worthy of veneration, be they Buddhas or their disciples, who have transcended all obstacles and passed beyond sorrow and tears - venerating such as these, whose passions are extinguished and for whom there is no further source for fear, no one can calculate how great his merit is.
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No one can escape death and unhappiness. If people expect only happiness in life, they will be disappointed.
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Apply yourself to solitude. One who is given to solitude knows things as they really are.
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Believe nothing because it is written in books. Believe nothing because wise men say it is so. Believe nothing because it is religious doctrine. Believe it only because you yourself know it to be true.
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Whoever sees me sees the teaching, and whoever sees the teaching sees me.
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When a man makes utensils out of a metal which has been thoroughly cleansed of dross, the utensils will be excellent. You monks, who wish to follow the Way, make your own hearts clean from the dirt of evil passion, and your conduct will be unimpeachable.
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One act of pure love in saving life is greater than spending the whole of one's time in religious offerings to the gods . . .
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How easy it is to see your brother's faults, How hard it is to face your own. You winnow his in the wind like chaff, But yours you hide, Like a cheat covering up an unlucky throw. Dwelling on your brother's faults Multiplies your own. You are far from the end of your journey. The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart. See how you love.
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You have to do your own work; Enlightened Ones will only show the way. Those who practise meditation will free themselves from the chains of death.
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Nothing is forever except change.
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One is not a great one because one defeats or harms other living beings. One is so called because one refrains from defeating or harming other living beings.