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Buddhist quotes

1246718

Comments

  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran

    @lobster said:
    Is emptiness like with philosophy, where you can think yourself into nothing?
    https://www.iep.utm.edu/perc-obj/

    Yes you can.

    Or is it like mysticism where; existence = God dunnit? Or is it like where in poetry:

    I was so full
    I was empty
    Thinking Nothing
    I saw Everything

    Clearly I was deluded
    A Buddha in a swamp of Light
    A dark lightening
    Emptying nihilism

    The philosophy of emptiness needs to be seen as the finger pointing to the moon. It can be over thought, under thought, misinterpreted, etc. Emptiness is an experience, a state of mind that an understanding of the philosophical ideas point us to.

    Shoshinlobster
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran

    Not Buddhist origin but it will do:

    In order to be what you are not, you must become what you know not.
    In order to arrive where you are not, you must go by the way in which you are not.

    T.S. Eliot

    lobster
  • lobsterlobster Veteran

    If it isn’t good, let it die. If it doesn’t die, make it good.
    https://zenquotes.org/ajahn-chah-quotes/

    BunksfedericaKundo
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran

    I'm Tibetan, I'm Buddhist and I'm the Dalai Lama, but if I emphasize these differences it sets me apart and raises barriers with others. What we need to do is pay more attention to the ways we are the same as other people.

    Dalai Lama

    JeffreyfedericaShoshin
  • CarameltailCarameltail UK Veteran

    personShoshin
  • techietechie India Veteran

    @lobster said:
    If it isn’t good, let it die. If it doesn’t die, make it good.
    https://zenquotes.org/ajahn-chah-quotes/

    Is this quote about Buddhism or lobsters?

    Shoshinlobster
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator

    @techie said:

    @lobster said:
    If it isn’t good, let it die. If it doesn’t die, make it good.
    https://zenquotes.org/ajahn-chah-quotes/

    Is this quote about Buddhism or lobsters?

    Ooooh! Koans and conundrums, decisions and dilemmas!

    lobsterKundo
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Train yourself in doing good
    that lasts and brings happiness.
    Cultivate generosity, the life of peace,
    and a mind of boundless love.

    Itivuttaka 1.22

    Jeffreylobsteradamcrossley
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Impermanent are all compounded things.
    When one perceives this with true insight,
    then one becomes detached from suffering;
    this is the path of purification.

    Dhammapada 20.277

    Shoshinlobsteradamcrossley
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Better than a thousand useless words
    is one useful word,
    hearing which one attains peace.

    Dhammapada 8.100

    JeffreyadamcrossleyShoshin
  • lobsterlobster Veteran

    ANTARATMA

    ^^ One word. Thanks @Bunks 💗

    Bunks
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran

    THE FOUR DEMONS
    “The first demon is called '“the Demon that Blocks the Senses.”' When we think of a demon, we generally think of an external spirit which attacks us, but Machig realized that the true nature of demons is the internal functioning of the ego. This particular demon manifests when we see or experience something with the sense, and the senses get blocked and we get fixated on the object. For example, when we see a beautiful woman or man, as soon as we see this person the perception is blocked by the desire to possess that person. The process of perception stops, and we try to meet that person, and so on. So this is one process that must be overcome by meditation. If we are in a state of true meditation, perception occurs without this fixation with, or attachment to, the objects perceived.
    The second demon is '“the Demon which Cannot be Controlled.”' This is the thought-process which just runs on and on. The thought-process takes over, the mind wanders from one thing to another, and our awareness is completely lost in distraction.

    The third demon is '“the Demon of Pleasure.'” When we experience something pleasurable, like eating something delicious, we become attached to this delicacy and we want to get more and avoid anything which stands between us and the object of pleasure. This does not mean that pleasure is in itself demonic, but rather that our attachment to it becomes a hindrance to remaining in a state of clarity. For example, a meditator might have an auspicious dream, which is a sign of progress, but then '“the Demon of Pleasure”' comes into play and he gets very attached to the dream. Or someone else might experience a period when everything goes well, he feels good physically, and so he tries to continue this good period endlessly, but it must always end in change and is therefore disappointing to us.

    The fourth demon is “'the Demon of the Ego.”' The ego is that with which we condition our world. It rests on the principle of '“self'” and '“other”' which causes a blockage in awareness and a lot of suffering for oneself and others.

    Fundamentally, all four demons are thought-processes which block a state of clear, unattached awareness, and they all grow out of the process of ego-fixation and the lack of prajna, with the consequent misunderstanding of emptiness. The Chöd practice seeks to do away with these demons.” – Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

    lobster
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Think not lightly of good, saying, “It will not come to me.”
    Drop by drop is the water pot filled.
    Likewise, the wise one, gathering it little by little,
    fills oneself with good.

    Dhammapada 9.122

    ShoshinfedericaJeffreylobster
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Good Bhikkhus, so you say thus, and I also say thus.
    When this exists, that comes to be.
    With the arising of this, that arises.
    That is:
    With ignorance as condition, formations come to be,
    With formations as condition, consciousness,
    With consciousness as condition, mentality materiality,
    With mentality materiality as condition, the six fold base,
    With the six fold base as condition, contact,
    With contact as condition, feeling,
    With feeling as condition, craving,
    With craving as condition, clinging,
    With clinging as condition, being,
    With being as condition, birth,
    With birth as condition, ageing and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair come to be.
    Such is the origin of this whole mass of suffering.

    Good Bhikkhus, so you say this, and I also say thus.
    When this does not exist, that does not come to be.
    With the cessation of this, that ceases.
    That is:
    With the cessation of ignorance, comes cessation of formation,
    With the cessation of formations, comes cessation of consciousness,
    With the cessation of consciousness, cessation of mentality materiality,
    With the cessation of mentality materiality, cessation of the six fold base,
    With the cessation of the six fold base, cessation of contact,
    With the cessation of contact, cessation of feeling,
    With the cessation of feeling, cessation of craving,
    With the cessation of craving, cessation of clinging,
    With the cessation of clinging, cessation of being,
    With the cessation of being, cessation of birth,
    With the cessation of birth, ageing and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair cease.
    Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.

    Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta

    Jeffrey
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran

    Every appearance and every event,
    Are the mind’s miraculous display.
    In the spacious expanse,
    I see nothing to fear.
    ~ Yeshe Tsogyal

    Bunksfedericalobster
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Practice has no limits.

    Whether standing, walking, sitting, or lying down, you can always practice.

    While sweeping the monastery grounds or glimpsing a beam of sunlight, you can awaken to Dhamma.

    AJAHN CHAH

    Shoshinlobsteradamcrossley
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    When we meditate, we relate to that unsettling, ineffable commodity: the present.

    We train in letting go of thoughts and feelings as they arise, and settle back into the present: that gap between two concepts - past and future - that don't actually exist.

    • Pamela Gayle White
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Consort only with the good,
    Come together with the good.
    To learn the teaching of the good
    gives wisdom like nothing else can.

    Samyutta Nikaya 1.31

    lobster
  • adamcrossleyadamcrossley Veteran UK Veteran

    @Bunks, wow! That deserves more than a simple ‘Insightful’.

    Bunks
  • KundoKundo Sydney, Australia Veteran

    BuddhaBunks - has a nice ring to it :awesome:

    Bunks
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    "The foolish person who conceives of their foolishness is also, on that very account, wise.
    It's the foolish person who makes themselves out to be wise, who really has to be called a fool."

    Dhammapada 63

    federicaperson
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    “If you think you’re enlightened, spend a week with your family”

    Author unknown

    Shoshinlobster
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    One by one, little by little, moment by moment,
    a wise one should remove one’s own impurities,
    as a smith removes dross from silver

    Dhammapada 18.239

    Jeffreyperson
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran

    @Bunks said:
    “If you think you’re enlightened, spend a week with your family”

    Author unknown

    Ram Dass says that but I don't know if someone else says it too

    Bunks
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran
    edited July 2019

    Perceiving permanence in the impermanent, pleasure in the stressful, self in what’s not self, attractiveness in the unattractive, beings, destroyed by wrong view, go mad, out of their minds.

    Bound to Mara’s yoke, from the yoke they find no rest.

    Beings go on to the wandering on, leading to birth and death.

    But when Awakened Ones arise in the world, bringing light to the world, they proclaim the Dhamma leading to the stilling of stress.

    When those with discernment listen, they regain their senses, seeing the impermanent as impermanent, the stressful as stressful, what’s not self as not self, the unattractive as unattractive.

    Undertaking right view, they overcome all stress and suffering.

    AN 4.49 - Vipallasa Sutta: Perversions

    Shoshinadamcrossleylobsterperson
  • adamcrossleyadamcrossley Veteran UK Veteran

    I’m always pleased to see a new post on this thread :)

    I’m curious @Bunks — all of your quotations so far have been from the Pali Canon or Theravada tradition. Do you take inspiration from anywhere else?

  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    @adamcrossley said:
    I’m always pleased to see a new post on this thread :)

    I’m curious @Bunks — all of your quotations so far have been from the Pali Canon or Theravada tradition. Do you take inspiration from anywhere else?

    Hi Adam, I practised Tibetan Buddhism (Gelug tradition) for a number of years before settling on Theravadan.

    I still find inspiration in that practice and refer back to the Lamrim on occasion.

    What about yourself?

  • lobsterlobster Veteran

    Perceiving permanence in the impermanent, pleasure in the stressful, self in what’s not self, attractiveness in the unattractive, beings, destroyed by wrong view, go mad, out of their minds.

    LOL
    advanced teaching, then I read the rest, amateur hour ...

    Perceiving permanence in the impermanent,

    Indeed, accepting change or dukkha as a permanent and inevitable consequence of being

    pleasure in the stressful,

    that is difficult, we are not talking sadomasochistic bodhisattvas but genuine acceptance

    self in what’s not self,

    True Self is not-self

    attractiveness in the unattractive

    The outer form is not the inner nature, look within and beyond the superficial

    beings, destroyed by wrong view, go mad, out of their minds.

    All view or static perception is mad/wrong. Out of your mind but not crazy?

    and now back to mountains that are mountains ... or perhaps not ...
    https://tricycle.org/magazine/first-there-mountain-then-there-no-mountain/

  • adamcrossleyadamcrossley Veteran UK Veteran

    @Bunks said:
    Hi Adam, I practised Tibetan Buddhism (Gelug tradition) for a number of years before settling on Theravadan.

    I still find inspiration in that practice and refer back to the Lamrim on occasion.

    What about yourself?

    Hi! I have mostly practised Theravada. I love teachers like Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg. I went on a short retreat at Gaia House recently, which is an Insight Meditation centre here in the UK. The teachers on my retreat came from the Thai Forest tradition, and their teachings really resonated with me. Since then I’ve been reading in that tradition almost exclusively.

    I’ll always have time for Thich Nhat Hanh, though. I find his brand of Zen much closer to Theravada than usual. And I love the poetry of the Japanese Buddhists—they’re on my bookshelf too. So all in all, a bit of a mishmash :)

    Thanks for asking; it’s useful to put into words actually.

    BunkslobsterShoshin
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    @adamcrossley said:

    @Bunks said:
    Hi Adam, I practised Tibetan Buddhism (Gelug tradition) for a number of years before settling on Theravadan.

    I still find inspiration in that practice and refer back to the Lamrim on occasion.

    What about yourself?

    Hi! I have mostly practised Theravada. I love teachers like Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg. I went on a short retreat at Gaia House recently, which is an Insight Meditation centre here in the UK. The teachers on my retreat came from the Thai Forest tradition, and their teachings really resonated with me. Since then I’ve been reading in that tradition almost exclusively.

    I’ll always have time for Thich Nhat Hanh, though. I find his brand of Zen much closer to Theravada than usual. And I love the poetry of the Japanese Buddhists—they’re on my bookshelf too. So all in all, a bit of a mishmash :)

    Thanks for asking; it’s useful to put into words actually.

    My pleasure Adam. It’s the Thai Forest tradition for me too. I find Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Martin etc very inspirational 🙏🙏🙏

  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran
    edited July 2019

    When one sets foot on the Eight Fold Path, one must Mind one's step...every step of the Way
    ~Justathought~

    Bunks
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Is the body sitting in the mind or is the mind sitting in the body?

    Zen Master Dogen

    JeffreyShoshinlobsterAlex
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Two important things about true giving:
    1. It requires some sacrifice on the part of the giver. To give away something that one doesn’t need isn’t Dana.
    2. The act must not be condescending but must show respect to the one who is receiving the gift. In fact, one is grateful to the recipient who makes the act of giving possible.

    Taitetsu Unno

    adamcrossley
  • adamcrossleyadamcrossley Veteran UK Veteran

    @Bunks it makes me wonder, how many (or how few) times in my life have I performed “true giving”? Probably not so many. Maybe we need another category like “pretty good giving”, which would be giving what one would rather keep. It may not be needed, strictly speaking, but it would have been nice to keep it.

    This is probably what most of my giving is like.

    personBunks
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Yes me too @adamcrossley.

    Remember giving isn’t just about handing over material things e.g. food money etc.

    Recently my kids school had a bush dance at a hall about a 25 minute drive from my house in the middle of nowhere.

    I was free that night (kids were with their mum) so I offered to work on the door.

    Throughout that day I kept thinking, “Why am I doing this? My own kids aren’t even going? It’s cold! I’d much rather sit at home alone in front of the heater and watch a game of football.”

    But off I headed and, lo and behold, I had a nice night.

    So I guess that ticks the no. 1 box.

    No. 2 is a whole different story.....

  • lobsterlobster Veteran

    As we all know, or may suspect ... receiving is a form of giving.

    ... so here come the sun ...

    Bunks
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Of all the fragrances — sandal, tagara, blue lotus and jasmine — the fragrance of virtue is the sweetest.

    Dhammapada 4.55

    lobsteradamcrossley
  • adamcrossleyadamcrossley Veteran UK Veteran

    "Foolish people think that if they help others first, their own benefit will be lost, but this is not so. Beneficial action is an act of oneness, benefiting self and others together."

    Zen Master Dogen, Bodaisatta-Shishobo

    BunksJeffrey
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    Studying texts and stiff meditation can make you lose your Original Mind.
    A solitary tune by a fisherman, though, can be an invaluable treasure.
    Dusk rain on the river, the moon peeking in and out of the clouds;
    Elegant beyond words, he chants his songs night after night.

    — Ikkyū, Zen Buddhist Monk

    BunksJeffrey
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    The snow falls, each flake in its appropriate place.
    — Zen saying

    ShoshinBunkslobster
  • VimalajātiVimalajāti Whitby, Ontario Veteran
    edited August 2019

    -Venerable Vimalakīrti

    (Also a good one:)

    No one's home!

    -Ven Vimalakīrti in responce to Venerable Śāriputra's knock upon his door.

    Bunks
  • techietechie India Veteran

    @Vimalajāti said:

    -Venerable Vimalakīrti

    (Also a good one:)

    No one's home!

    -Ven Vimalakīrti in responce to Venerable Śāriputra's knock upon his door.

    I wonder what a Buddhist knock knock joke would be like:

    Knock knock

    No one's home.

    End of joke.

    adamcrossleyJeffreyShoshin
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    Better it is to live one day
    seeing the rise and fall of things
    than to live a hundred years
    without ever seeing the rise and fall of things

    Dhammapada 8.113

  • @techie said:

    @Vimalajāti said:

    -Venerable Vimalakīrti

    (Also a good one:)

    No one's home!

    -Ven Vimalakīrti in responce to Venerable Śāriputra's knock upon his door.

    I wonder what a Buddhist knock knock joke would be like:

    Knock knock

    No one's home.

    End of joke.

    No one's home end of joke who? hehe

    Vimalajāti
  • VimalajātiVimalajāti Whitby, Ontario Veteran

    @Jeffrey said:

    @techie said:

    @Vimalajāti said:

    -Venerable Vimalakīrti

    (Also a good one:)

    No one's home!

    -Ven Vimalakīrti in responce to Venerable Śāriputra's knock upon his door.

    I wonder what a Buddhist knock knock joke would be like:

    Knock knock

    No one's home.

    End of joke.

    No one's home end of joke who? hehe

    No one's home, he said,
    From inside the great mansion.
    No one home indeed.

  • VimalajātiVimalajāti Whitby, Ontario Veteran
    edited August 2019

    (Another good one, source apocryphal)

    The Novice: "I have seen and heard, studied and known, within these five aggregates of binding there is no one to be found and nothing to own."

    The Master smiled. The Master nodded. The Master struck the Novice on the face.

    Struck to the ground, the Novice righted himself, dusted off his robe. He resumed the full-lotus.

    "Master, that hurt. Why would you strike me?"

    The Master, grinning, said: "Who? Me? I didn't hit anybody."

    Jeffrey
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    “This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”

    • Alan Watts
    BunksadamcrossleyShoshin
  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran

    "If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. That is very serious!"

    • Thich Nhat Hanh
    BunksShoshin
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