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7 Things the Buddha Never Said
Brownbuddha
Osaka, Japan Explorer
Comments
Here's a site dedicated to sniffing them out.
http://fakebuddhaquotes.com/
I'd like to also add to this list almost every quote with "-buddha" at the end that exists on the internet lol.
and also a plug for one of my favorite websites on the internet - fakebuddhaquotes.com/
A good article from fakebuddhaquotes on the veracity of internet quotes in general.
http://fakebuddhaquotes.com/groucho-glasses-on-the-mona-lisa/
" Life's a bitch and then you die"
The Buddha
"You can't take it wiv you."
I saw that the other day as well. I like Thanissaro Bhikkhu and have gotten a lot out of the access to insight site.
Number 1 and 3 seem to be the most often repeated.
I doubt if Gautama said, "Man without God is like a fish without a bicycle," but I saw it as a graffito on a construction-site wall once. Is that close enough?
I'm 100% sure that this was an original saying of the Buddha back in the day...
"The proof of the curry is in the eating"
"The proof of the curry is in the eating" I like green curry with tofu!
just saying.
I don't know or even care what he said that much.
Many, not all obviously, of the sentiments expressed in modern attributes to the Buddha contain authentic value.
Much of the traditional dharma, is selective, does not cover the extinct schools, is influenced by the elders (Theravadins) and probably the collective experience of senior Sangha. We might call it dogma - if we were unkind ...
Lobster = Not-Buddhist
the value of contemplation lays in understanding, not in quoting correctly.
"do not believe because you are told by someone you respect, even me."
You're just not getting this thread, are you....?
If you can't quote correctly, then you have not really understood.
If you repeat and internalize a misquote, you will never understand and only perpetuate ignorance.
Misquotations foster misunderstanding, so no chance one will develop Right View by misquoting befuddled quotes.
Any chance the Buddha said this...?
This is probably the closest the Buddha has ever come to saying " take nobody's shit".
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn07/sn07.002.than.html
Thank you, @Jayantha, but I was only joking
EXCELLENT reminder.
Thank you.
Yeah, but in a nutshell, it's quite accurate!
To be fair, in order to quote correctly we couldn't use english.
If a misquote can be taken to mean the same as the actual teaching then I don't see the productivity of negating it.
He's quoted as using the word "suffering" all through the suttas and sutras but it doesn't really do "dukkha" justice.
"Would you like fries w/ that?'
Just kidding. She actually said that to me just the other day. Isn't every word that was ever said by anyone what the Buddha said?
Let's not split hairs. There's a difference between interpretation of the original Pali suttas, and actually putting words into the mouth of The Buddha, when it's clear form scrutiny of the Suttas that he said no such thing.
By the way, apparently the images of a Buddha wearing a loose cloth and looking buff is from when Alexander the Great (Murderer) traversed what's now Pakistan. Before this, portrayal of the Buddha was often a footprint with dharma wheel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Buddhism
I know. Darn those pesky Greeks and all their ever-so-romantic imagery! They held the male form to be perfect, and actively encouraged homosexuality as a perfect love. This is why so many male Greek statues are naked, and so many female forms are clad, scantily or otherwise.... talk about 'positive discrimination'...!
(No, I have no idea where all that came from. I blame @Tiddlywinds for going O/T first.)
[O/T = Off Topic....]
Yeah, I'd say half the quotes we get bombarded with on the internet are attributed to the wrong person. Sometimes entire speeches.
Sorry. Just was inferring that misrepresentation isn't just a modern problem to do with misquoting. Can also be misbodying and miscladding too.
Ah. My mistake.
:-(
I wasn't clear about the connection.
I'm kidding.... lighten up. we all share a somewhat warped sense of humour here. I blame it on @lobster and his damned clause....
ahhh, hard to tell without the intonation.
Speaking of clause (and digression), they're threatening to put up the Christmas decorations in the office. I asked that it be done not before December. Isn't there a tradition about 12 days and bad luck etc? The Brits are fair and square into Christmas. As an Australian, I find it so unusual.
Which causes me to think about one of my favorite beefs, which is how people don't realize how much translation is an art form and inexact science. The scholar has to sometimes guess as to the meaning of the text, and an exact word for word translation sounds like babble to English speakers. It's like today's Christians thinking the KJV of the Bible is the final word of God and without error.
Suffering is a poor choice of English words for Dukkha, from the context, because it has a specific definition of feeling pain. But we're stuck with it. You might as well say the Noble Truth is: "Our lives suck. Birth sucks. Death sucks. Not getting what you want sucks. Getting what you want sucks..." and be closer to what Buddha originally meant.
I read once that it shouldn't be read as the 4 Noble Truths, but the 4 Truths of the Nobles.
I think (from what I have come to understand) that 'Noble' is intended to mean, indisputable and beyond argument. But I could be wrong. I err on the humble, in that respect....
The Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: catvāri āryasatyāni; Pali: cattāri ariyasaccāni) are "the truths of the Noble Ones,"[1] the truths or realities which are understood by the "worthy ones"[web 1] who have attained Nirvana. From good old Wikipedia.
I went through a lot of websites just now and found none that discussed what the sutras actually say or why these are called "Noble Truths". They all give the shorthand version and discuss what it means. But it again points out we use thumbnail translations all the time. Buddha never called them the "Noble Truths". He called them the "Truth of Dukkha, Truth of cause of Dukkha, etc." The Noble Ones are of course an honorary title of the Arahants or Enlightened Beings.
Fascinating.
Thanks @Cinorjer , kind clarification. I guess from my own personal PoV then, that would render the Truths inarguable, due to their endorsement by those 'worthy ones' who have attained enlightenment. Can't really argue with them... That would seem to be a logical conclusion...
But views may well vary.
ah, here's the answer by Bikkhu Bodhi in good ol' ATI: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_20.html
Essentially, the noble ones are people who have understood the dhamma to such an extent that they don't revert to type. They are on the other shore. The rest of us are worldlings.
I tend to think of Noble as 'Worthy' and the way @Tiddlywinds has described it. Also the word Noble is used in Western rasayana (alchemy) to refer to certain metals, in particular gold ...
@Cinorjer modern take on the knobbled truths is also of value but is not always immediately appropriate ...
Dukkha can includes euphoric and positive mind states that we cling to. The Buddha the zen people 'kill'.
'Live long and prosper'
Vulcan Buddha
the people who have seen the other show and swimming toward other shore also should be included as Noble ones