Quotes About Buddha

We took a bus to the nearby monastery of one of the last great Tang dynasty Chan masters, Yun-men. Yun-men was known for his pithy "one word" Zen. When asked "What is the highest teaching of the Buddha?" he replied: "An appropriate statement." On another occasion, he answered: "Cake." I admired his directness.

Rituals, ceremonies, prayers, and special outfits are inevitable, but they do not—they cannot—express the heart of what the Buddha taught. In fact, all too often, such things get in the way. They veil the simple wisdom of the Buddha's words, and distract us from it.

You don't need to worship idols of the Virgin Mary, the Christ, or the Buddha. You can if you want to; if it feels good, do it. Your own body is a manifestation of God

Jesus said "love," "forgive," have "compassion" and "don't judge." Buddha said "observe," "be silent," and "serve."

How could the Buddha have believed that being incarnated as a human being was fortunate? Had he ever been to Georgia?

Buddha was asked: "What have you gained from meditation?" He replied: "Nothing." "However", Buddha said, "let me tell you what I lost: Anger, Anxiety, Depression, Insecurity, Fear of Old Age and Death.

A lotus for you. A Buddha to be.

Like the Buddha, we too have come from suchness, remain in suchness, and will return to suchness. We have come from nowhere and have nowhere to go.

The Buddha said that if we know how to look deeply into our suffering and recognize its source of food, we are already on the path of emancipation.

A Buddha is a person who has no more business to do and isn't looking for anything. In doing nothing, in simply stopping, we can live freely and be true to ourselves, and our liberation will contribute to the liberation of all beings.

Treat your anger with the utmost respect and tenderness, for it is no other than yourself. Do not suppress it—simply be aware of it. Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed. When you are aware that you are angry, your anger is transformed. If you destroy anger, you destroy the Buddha, for Buddha and Mara are of the same essence. Mindfully dealing with anger is like taking the hand of a little brother.

When mindfulness is present, the Buddha and the Holy Spirit are already there

The teachings of the Buddha could be summarized in four short sentences. ... [The Buddha] said ... The bad things, don't do them. The good things, try to do them. Try to purify, subdue your own mind. That is the teaching of all buddhas.

We are all mother's of the Buddha because we are all pregnant with the potential for awakening.

As the Buddha said, "The past no longer is, the future is not yet here; there is only one moment in which life is available, and that is the present moment." To meditate with mindful breathing is to bring body and mind back to the present moment so that you do not miss your appointment with life.

Nirvana isn't merchandise for sale. Any religion can sell a paradise, a pure land, or nirv??a. But is nirv??a a product that the Buddha and ancestral teachers want to sell us? Is it a promised land or paradise up in the sky, which people try to sell us saying: "If you follow our religion, if you become a member of our congregation, then after you die you will have nirv??a or the Kingdom of Heaven"? We can see clearly that it is not.

Many years ago, I recognized that by understanding your own tradition better, you also develop increased respect, consideration, and understanding for others. I had had a naive thought, a kind of prejudice inherited from my ancestors. I thought that because Buddha had taught for forty-five years and Jesus for only two or three, that Buddha must have been a more accomplished teacher. I had that thought because I did not know the teachings of the Buddha well enough. One

The Buddha teaches us that we have to master ourselves first. Before we can act, we have to cool these coals beneath us. To succeed doesn't mean triumphing over the one who causes us to suffer, but over our own ignorance and resentment. No matter what has been done to us or how we've been wronged, we're always responsible for at least fifty percent of our suffering, perhaps more.

If you hate your body and think that it is only a source of affliction, that it contains only the roots of anger, hatred, and craving, you do not understand that your body is the body of the Buddha, your body is a member of the body of Christ.

If we place our faith in a god, then perhaps later we will lose that faith. If we have faith in a person, then we may also lose faith in that person. We should have faith in something more steadfast and enduring. We need to have faith in ourselves and the Buddha within.

The Buddha called suffering a Holy Truth, because our suffering has the capacity of showing us the path to liberation. Embrace your suffering, and let it reveal to you the way to peace.

One of the Buddha's most widely quoted phrases is attadipa saranam, which means taking refuge (saranam) in the island (dipa) of self (atta).

The Buddha said, "I have looked deeply into the state of mind of unhappy people and have seen hidden under their suffering a very sharp knife. Because they don't see that sharp knife in themselves, it is difficult for them to deal with suffering." Your

To cultivate mindfulness in ourselves is to cultivate the Buddha within, to cultivate the Holy Spirit.