Quotes About Buddha

In one of his sermons, the Buddha described reality as a display of pearls—each pearl reflects all of the others, as well as the palace whose façade they decorate, and the entirety of the universe. This comes down to saying that all of reality is present in each of its parts. This image is a good illustration of interdependence, which states that no entity independent of the whole can exist anywhere in the universe.

In the midst of a culture that is rationally organized for a vocational workaday life, there is hardly any room for the cultivation of acosmic brotherliness, unless it is among strata who are economically carefree. Under the technical and social conditions of rational culture, an imitation of the life of Buddha, Jesus, or Francis seems condemned to failure for purely external reasons.

are fools. Which two? The one who doesn't see his/her transgression as a transgression, and the one who doesn't rightfully pardon another who has confessed his/her transgression. These two are fools. These two are wise. Which two? The one who sees his/her transgression as a transgression, and the one who rightfully pardons another who has confessed his/her transgression. These two are wise.—The Buddha, Anguttara Nikaya

He didn't lead anyone on, or make any promises. Instead he conveyed a sense of calm and equanimity, like a man who had banished from his life all superfluous sentiment, all longings and all patience for the nonessential. He was like Yoda, Buddha and the Gladiator all rolled into one.

The rebel groups were loosely coordinated, inspired by millenarian hopes for the coming of the Maitreya Buddha and Manichaean-tinged beliefs about the imminent arrival of a saviour, a prince of light, who would defeat the powers of darkness.

Neither Buddha built a Buddhist temple nor did Christ build a Catholic church, but these humans in their name have left the spirituality seekers in the lurch. No religious organizations have ever delivered God to humans, yes an idea of God may have been made available. The divinity has to be self realized, stop searching in temples, look within and get MickeyMized.

The sacrifice which causes sorrow to the doer of the sacrifice is no sacrifice. Real sacrifice lightens the mind of the doer and gives him a sense of peace and joy. The Buddha gave up the pleasures of life because they had become painful to him.

We can no longer rely on the external teachings of Buddha, Confucius, or Christ. The era of organized religion controlling every aspect of life is over. No single religion has all the answers. Construction of shrine and temple buildings is not enough. Establish yourself as a living buddha image. We all should be transformed into goddesses of compassion or victorious buddhas.

experience. Direct perception into one's own experience allows a practitioner to become free of the concepts of self or no-self, dharmas or no-dharmas. This awareness or direct perception has meant, for practitioners, an expansion of self-imposed boundaries of "self " and a merging, so to speak, with the true or universal self. It cannot be cautioned too often that in pure experience, linguistic terms do not suffice. The Buddha also gives this warning in this passage.

All the prophets, including Jesus, are dead but their names are still so fresh in our minds. Buddha, Socrates, etc. were also such great men. But now is a good time to cultivate our minds.

Gautama Buddha realized that learning from others will never make him grow. Only self-knowledge matters. So, he decided to go beyond books and sought out nature as the best teacher.

Human desires cannot be extinguished. Even Buddha, with all his sweet teachings, is not immune to seeking fame and followers. Thus, leaving behind a continuing legacy.

Perhaps detachment cannot be achieved by anyone. Even Gautama Buddha was addicted to meditation.

10. Without a foundation in the conventional truth, The significance of the ultimate cannot be taught. Without understanding the significance of the ultimate, Liberation is not achieved. 11. By a misperception of emptiness A person of little intelligence is destroyed. Like a snake incorrectly seized Or like a spell incorrectly cast. 12. For that reason—that the Dharma is Deep and difficult to understand and to learn— The Buddha's mind despaired of Being able to teach it.

The point of the spiritual revolution is not to become a good Buddhist, but to become a wise and compassionate human being, to awaken from our life of complacency and ignorance and to be a buddha.

the mind of nondiscriminating discrimination which Master Bankei calls the Unborn Buddha Mind. He writes, "To see and hear things without any preparation to see and hear them is called Unborn Mind.

Nembutsu is the invocation of Buddha's name. It is said, "When I invoke the name of Buddha, there is neither I nor Buddha." This is the true nembutsu. It pertains to the realm of oneness, rather than to that of dualism in which self and Buddha are deemed to be separate as subject and object of invocation respectively. Thus, it is not too much to say that the samadhi of Mahayana Zen Buddhism is the most supreme form of nembutsu.

Our body then is no longer a mere physical body but the body of Buddha and the True Body of the individual. It embodies and concretely expresses the spiritual nature and inexhaustible wisdom of various Buddhas. It is as if the body is the whole universe.

There is no difference between buddhas and sentient beings other than their scope of mind. What is called mind, consciousness, or awareness, is of a single identity. The mind of a sentient being is limited. The mind of a buddha is all-pervasive. So develop a scope of mind that is like the sky, which has no limit to the east, west, north, or south. – Shri Singha

Unless you realize that your own mind is the buddha, you will be deceived by the multitude of conceptual thoughts. So realize that your own mind is the buddha!

But, although the sramanas carried on much dialogue among themselves and before large audiences, they dealt primarily in assertion. Reality consisted of this and that; and there was no basis for morality. They lived in what the Buddha, commenting on the intellectual ferment of his time, later called the 'jungle of opinions'.

God" must be an experience before "God" can be a word. Unless God is an experience, whatever words we might use for the Divine will be without content, like road signs pointing nowhere, like lightbulbs without electricity. Buddha would warn Christians, and I believe Rahner would second the warning: if you want to use words for God, make sure that these words are preceded by, or at least coming out of, an experience that is your own.

The first truth, Buddha taught his disciples, is that suffering is part of the human condition. If we simply try to avoid confronting painful experiences, there is no way to begin the healing process. In fact, this denial creates the very conditions that promote and prolong unnecessary suffering.