Quotes About Buddhism

Buddhism's aim is not immortality and eternal life through a resurrection that conquers death, but the unborn and the undying state of nirvana realized directly in and through living-and-dying by liberation from living-and-dying itself.

Buddhism is originally not a religion of faith in a transcendent deity but a religion of awakening to the true nature of self and others.

Buddhist nirvana ... is based on egolessness and is not anthropocentric but rather cosmological. In Buddhism, humans and the things of the universe are equally subject to change, equally subject to transitoriness or transmigration. A person cannot achieve emancipation from the cycle of birth and death until he or she can eliminate a more universal problem: the transience common to all things in the universe.

To say that Buddhist principles such as dependent origination, emptiness, and suchness are impersonal does not mean that Buddhism is indifferent to human affairs. On the contrary, Buddhism as a religion is essentially concerned with the salvation of humankind.

Suggested Readings Conze, Edward. Buddhism: Its Essence and Development. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1951/ 2003. A short philosophical primer on the essence of Buddhism. Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler. The Art of Happiness: A Guide for Living. New York: Riverhead. 1998. A sales pitch for Buddhism as a way to be happy. Flanagan, Owen. The Bodhisattva's Brain: Buddhism Naturalized.

Not to be Buddhist about it—okay, to be a little Buddhist about it—life isn't about being pleased with what you are doing, but about what you are being.

to be Buddhist about it—okay, to be a little Buddhist about it—life isn't about being pleased with what you are doing, but about what you are being.

The teachings in the Visuddhimagga begin with purification of virtue since the completion of the path to liberation rests squarely on the foundation stone of morality. This point cannot be over-emphasized.

Rather than distinguishing between emotions and thoughts, Buddhism is more concerned with understanding which types of mental activity are conducive to one's own and others' well-being, and which are harmful, especially in the long run.

the "mindfulness" of Buddhism — can play in the process. Recognizing the emotion at the very moment it forms, understanding that it is but a thought, devoid of intrinsic existence, and allowing it to dissipate spontaneously so as to avoid the chain reaction it would normally unleash are all at the heart of Buddhist contemplative practice.

According to Buddhism, suffering will always exist as a universal phenomenon, but every individual has the potential for liberation from it.

Had I renounced the Western world? Renunciation, at least as Buddhists use the term, is a much-misunderstood concept. It is not about giving up what is good and beautiful. How foolish that would be! Rather it is about disentangling oneself from the unsatisfactory and moving with determination toward what matters most. It is about freedom and meaning—freedom from mental confusion and self-centered afflictions, meaning through insight and loving-kindness.

From a Buddhist point of view, every being has the potential for enlightenment just as surely, say the traditional texts, as every sesame seed contains oil.

Buddhist texts say that in the cycle of death and rebirth, no place, not even one the size of a needle's point, is exempt from suffering.

le bouddhisme en appelle à une pratique de transformation personnelle pour que l'agent moral grandisse en sagesse, ce qui lui permet d'adopter une motivation plus altruiste et de bénéficier d'une clarté d'esprit accrue pour affiner son jugement.

Buddhism therefore concludes that the self is just a name we give to a continuum, just as we name a river the Ganges or the Mississippi.

The main difference between the pursuit of knowledge in science versus the same pursuit in Buddhism is their ultimate goals. In Buddhism, knowledge is acquired essentially for therapeutic purposes. The objective is to free ourselves from the suffering that is caused by our undue attachment to the apparent reality of the external world and by our servitude to our individual egos, which we imagine reside at the center of our being.

Buddhism affirms that the ultimate nature of phenomena is emptiness and that emptiness carries within it an infinite potential of manifestation.

The Dalai Lama once said that 'If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change!' This is a great thought! And great thoughts belong to great men only!

It is really striking," says Gary Snyder, "that so very many people at Zen Center reject the term religion when it is applied to what they are doing. What is any religion? A little ritual, a little superstition, and some magic. That's Buddhism.

Do not harm. This is the first precept, or obligatory rule for behavior, given to a Zen Buddhist during lay ordination, a ceremony that marks a period of sincere practice, typically a year, with a teacher and other practitioners. If the first precept was not clear to the Abbot, what had been transmitted to him from the ancient lineage of dharma teachers ?

In their attempts to date Zen Buddhism's official debut in America, many historians follow the lead of Rick Fields and cite the significance of the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago; others point to the subsequent arrival of a particular teacher. The undisputed fact is that it was not here until the twentieth century, and it was not able to flourish until a monastery was established at Tassajara in 1967.

Richard [Baker] had done his homework. From the beginning, he pointed out, the Buddhist practice of begging was based on an ancient notion of accumulating merit—not unlike the Roman Catholic indulgence scams. By giving food and money to the monks, wealthy patrons essentially accumulated merit badges, which were redeemable in the next life. Richard wondered if the tradition of begging—on the streets or in board rooms—wasn't corrupt. "Don't we want to avoid the idea of merit?

At a wat temple in the mountains of Northern Thailand, a Buddhist teacher once reminded me of a simple truth. "Life," he said, "is offered as a means of self-expression, only giving us what we seek when we listen to the heart." The highest forms of this expression are acts of kindness.