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Buddhist quotes

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

    It seems to me that opinions are not of any great worth, that next to every ‘no’ there is a ‘yes’ that is equally true, which means, that not only are they without much worth, but also they are not free of danger.

    — Hein Thijssen, Our Original State: Return to Natural Religion

    BunksKotishka
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    The waters are still in the pool of our mind;
    the Buddha and the moon are reflected there.
    But the winds of karma stir up ripples;
    Sentient beings and the Buddha become distant.

    Vinaya Master Tansheng

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

    Be a hollow bamboo, and God will come and play on you.

    — Osho

    Bunks
  • I wonder if fewer people would eat Rabbit Stew if instead it was called Bunny Rabbit Stew.
    Bodhi Neil deGrasse Tyson

    Challenge accepted! Oops think I went wrong again ... :3

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

    The heart of the path is quite easy. There’s no need to explain anything at length. Let go of love and hate and let things be. That is all I do in my practice.

    — Ajahn Chah

    adamcrossleyBunkslobsterFosdick
  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran
    edited August 2020

    With mindfulness as one's tool
    one won't become mind fool

    ~Just a thought~

    adamcrossley
  • "We do not have to die to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In fact we have to be fully alive. When we breathe in and out and hug a beautiful tree, we are in Heaven. When we take one conscious breath, aware of our eyes, our heart, our liver, and our non-toothache, we are transported to Paradise right away. Peace is available. We only have to touch it. When we are truly alive, we can see that the tree is part of Heaven, and we are also part of Heaven. The whole universe is conspiring to reveal this to us, but we are so out of touch that we invest our resources in cutting down the trees. If we want to enter Heaven on Earth, we need only one conscious step and one conscious breath. When we touch peace, everything becomes real. We become ourselves, fully alive in the present moment, and the tree, our child, and everything else reveal themselves to us in their full splendor."

    Thich Nhat Hanh.

    “The miracle is to walk on Earth.”

    Linji Yixuan.

    https://www.lionsroar.com/beyond-birth-and-death/

    BunksWalkerShoshin
  • Something for the weekend sir?
    Bodhi barber

    https://wisdomquotes.com/buddha-quotes/

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

    There is no way to happiness — happiness is the way.

    — Thich Nhat Hanh

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

    “When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change”

    — Thich Nhat Hanh

    WalkeradamcrossleyNirvana
  • I grew lettuce this year and it was too early. It was limp lettuce. Should have tried to be hardier. Bad useless lettuce ... all dead ... :3

    federicaadamcrossleyJeroen
  • 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

    "Wherever you go, there you are."

    Also a well-known song...

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

    All the Buddhist monks I have seen have been dry because Buddhism doesn’t teach love very well. You need love.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

    lobsterBunks
  • Always recognize the dreamlike qualities of life and reduce attachment and aversion. Practice good-heartedness towards all beings. Be loving and compassionate, no matter what others do to you. What they do will not matter so much when you see it as a dream. The trick is to have a positive intention during the dream. This is the essential point.
    ~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche

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

    Unenlightenment is a game: lila.
    It is a game to be enjoyed, but remember:
    Death, suffering and pain are the taxes of sense enjoyments.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

    Bunks
  • ShoshinShoshin No one in particular Nowhere Special Veteran

    "Defilements were invented by the Ego to keep itself employed"

    ~A Meditative Thought~

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

    The truth is within, but you always look somewhere else in order to appease your tendency to go out after sense objects. But all of this is illusion. Find where the illusion arises from. Find where this thought arises from. Then you will have found the love which always dwells within you. Then you will see the illusion of everything, including your own body.
    What appears and disappears is not real.
    Once you know it is illusion you will separate yourself from it and you are “the one who has gone beyond the illusion”, like a mirage of a river in the desert. The ones who try to be fulfilled by this mirage will never be satisfied. They will just get into more and more trouble.
    Some people will know that this river is a mirage and they don’t go there, they know maya appears, but does not exist. When you know this you must ask where peace and happiness is. This search will bring you to Satsang.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

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

    The entire waking state is a concept just as the dream state is. When you know this you will say, “now I am looking at this in a very new atmosphere”, and you will know who is always awake, who does not sleep.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

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

    Thought is in the last moment, not in this moment. In the present there is no room for thought.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

    BunksShoshin1marcitko
  • “Instead of becoming the worlds greatest expert on Buddhism..let go ..let go ...let go.”

    Ajahn Sumedho.

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

    Arrogance is not recognising this timeless moment.
    Arrogance is “I am the body”.
    Remove arrogance and enlightenment is instantaneous.
    “I am so and so” is the first arrogance.
    And “this is mine” is the second. Look at it!

    — H. W. L. Poonja

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

    On three accounts searching and practice
    are foolishness and misleading
    and are only the clever mind postponing freedom.

    The first is that it creates a searcher.
    This reinforces the concept of an individual sufferer
    That is separate from Freedom, and
    That Self is something other than Here and Now.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

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

    The second is the search.
    Searching is a distraction which causes postponement
    and endless needless suffering.
    Searching promotes religions, traditions,
    And paths to be adhered to,
    Which only entrap you deeper in illusion.
    The Truth is only here and now,
    While the search says it is tomorrow.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

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

    The third is that the search creates an object to be found,
    And this can be the subtlest and most misleading trap.
    As you start a search you conceptualise
    What it is you are searching for.
    Since it is the nature of Maya, illusion,
    To become whatever is your desire;
    Whatever you think you will attain it.
    So because of your search you will create
    And then attain whatever it is you are searching for.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

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

    A man who is born must die, that is his nature. So don’t keep him in your heart, everybody must die. You are not a graveyard where the dead are kept!

    — H. W. L. Poonja

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

    You are lucky to be sitting quiet because so many other paths turn into traps of doing which you cannot get out of. Truly being quiet will give you much more benefit than chanting the name of god.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

    lobsterNirvana
  • FosdickFosdick in its eye are mirrored far off mountains Alaska, USA Veteran

    The nature of the sky is originally clear
    But by gazing and gazing, the sight becomes obscured.

    • Saraha's Treasury of Songs
    Shoshin1lobsterKotishka
  • Consciousness is afraid of Emptiness
    (It sounds quite Dharma ish when one thinks of the fear the self has of non existence )

    ~Paul Valery...French Poet & Philosopher~

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

    Detachment is your own nature
    so the wise are not attracted to the transient.
    Only the foolish cling to that which brings unhappiness,
    and are thus butchered by time.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

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

    Hidden tendencies arise to leave when you are Quiet,
    so it is a good thing when vasanas rise.
    Do not be dismayed because they are Self.
    Let vasanas arise, they do not exist.
    The world is a playground for the wise,
    and a graveyard for the foolish.
    Let the vasanas play, they are transient imaginations,
    and even the “I” to which they occur is imagination itself.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

  • <3 xxx I am freedom xxx <3

    oops don't seem to have a self to kiss ...
    ah well ...

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

    Your whole life has been a string of repeated affirmations, “I am bound”, “I am suffering”, “I will die”. These are the notions you have entertained. Simply get rid of them! Freedom is waiting within, ready to hug you, but you have turned your back. If anything is death it is turning your back on your self by taking your notions, ideas and intentions of bondage and suffering.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

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

    When a man is free from sorrow, personality and identification, compassion arises in his mind for those who suffer.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

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

    Reading books before you know the Truth will destroy you because books pollute you with so many notions which will just distract you from your self. Words are indicators only so follow the indications and forget about the words.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

    Nirvana
  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran

    @lobster said:
    Psychologists talk about people who are co-dependent because they don't have a sense of self. What psychologists mean when they say a person has no sense of self is very different from what the Buddha meant by no-self or selflessness. People with psychological problems actually have a very strong sense of self in the Buddhist sense, although they may not in the psychological sense of the word. Psychologically, they don't see themselves as efficacious individuals in the world, but they still have a very strong sense of "I": "I am worthless." When somebody criticizes them, they don't like it. They get into co-dependent relationships to protect or to please this "I." When they fall into self-pity, their sense of an inherently existent "I" is very strong. Thus they still have self-grasping even though they lack a psychologically healthy sense of self.
    Buddhism recognizes two kinds of sense of self. There's one sense of self that is healthy and necessary to be efficacious on the path. The object of this sense of self is the conventionally existent "I." The other sense of self grasps at an inherently existent self that never has and never will exist. Within Buddhism, when we talk about realizing emptiness, we're negating the false self, this self that appears inherently existent to us.

    Thubten Chodron from Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga Method of Chenrezig

    Not to derail but wow, that was me in my late teens and even early twenties after I found Buddhism (to a progressively lesser degree). I remember the first time I became mindful of it. I had just started a meditation practice and was at work one day and I said something nagative about myself (probably in the hopes of receiving assurance to the contrary) and a co-worker said to me "You're so vain". I was shocked and meditated on it later. I asked myself "How could I be vain if I do not like myself?" I came to see that I was reinforcing a strong sense of self in an unhealthy way and looking for validation from external forces.

    It changed everything and if I had read the above quote back then, I think the switch would have been flipped too.

    The dharma is powerful when explained properly and in action with deep looking.

    Thanks @Bunks and @Lobster and all.

    lobsterKotishkaShoshin1Nirvana
  • Thanks @David <3

    Listening is everything. Quotes are not trite wisdom ... when they are heard. We are not trying to provide 'sage nodding' but digestion of personal insight.

    The Force is With Us

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

    In every generation there are but a few who truly desire freedom.

    — anonymous

    lobster
  • 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

    @Kerome said:
    Reading books before you know the Truth will destroy you because books pollute you with so many notions which will just distract you from your self. Words are indicators only so follow the indications and forget about the words.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

    And yet here you are, giving us stuff to read.... 🤭

    Jeroen
  • 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

    @David said:... I said something negative about myself (probably in the hopes of receiving assurance to the contrary) and a co-worker said to me "You're so vain". I was shocked and meditated on it later. I asked myself, "How could I be vain if I do not like myself?" I came to see that I was reinforcing a strong sense of self in an unhealthy way and looking for validation from external forces.

    It's called 'reverse egotism'.
    It's good that you realised what you were doing...
    Emotional Vampires/Leeches do this all the time. It elicits attention, and reassurance, and what they're actually doing, is precisely what you describe: Seeking reassurance to the contrary (they want to be talked about, principally, above anything else) and wanting validation form those outside themselves. What they actually want is confirmation of how wonderful they actually are.

    Please know: I am in no way suggesting you were this, or that you even behaved that way.
    You recognised pretty quickly what was at play here...

    In fact, if you were to reveal to an Emotional Vampire/Leech, that this is what they're doing, they would recoil in horror, and deny everything, probably with a load of resentment and vehemence thrown in for good measure.
    But that IS what it is.
    It's a form of Egotism.

    It's also a reason why dysfunctional children behave the way they do. They receive punishment and chastisement; but any form of attention, in their negative Mind-set, is at least some attention... Bad attention is better than none.

    lobsterDavidNirvana
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran

    @federica said:

    @Kerome said:
    Reading books before you know the Truth will destroy you because books pollute you with so many notions which will just distract you from your self. Words are indicators only so follow the indications and forget about the words.

    — H. W. L. Poonja

    And yet here you are, giving us stuff to read.... 🤭

    Yeah haha, I am always slightly amused when I read posts on Facebook about how damaging iphones and social media are!

    Ah derrrrrrrr.....

    WalkerChoephal
  • Moment by moment consciousness makes up the event which becomes normal conscious experience....An abstraction

    ~Every Now & Zen~

  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran

    The notion of death, of nothingness, is very dangerous. It makes people suffer a lot. In Buddhist teaching, nothingness is just a concept, and it is never applicable to reality.

    Thich Nhat Hanh.

    @federica said:

    @David said:... I said something negative about myself (probably in the hopes of receiving assurance to the contrary) and a co-worker said to me "You're so vain". I was shocked and meditated on it later. I asked myself, "How could I be vain if I do not like myself?" I came to see that I was reinforcing a strong sense of self in an unhealthy way and looking for validation from external forces.

    It's called 'reverse egotism'.
    It's good that you realised what you were doing...
    Emotional Vampires/Leeches do this all the time. It elicits attention, and reassurance, and what they're actually doing, is precisely what you describe: Seeking reassurance to the contrary (they want to be talked about, principally, above anything else) and wanting validation form those outside themselves. What they actually want is confirmation of how wonderful they actually are.

    Please know: I am in no way suggesting you were this, or that you even behaved that way.
    You recognised pretty quickly what was at play here...

    In fact, if you were to reveal to an Emotional Vampire/Leech, that this is what they're doing, they would recoil in horror, and deny everything, probably with a load of resentment and vehemence thrown in for good measure.
    But that IS what it is.
    It's a form of Egotism.

    It's also a reason why dysfunctional children behave the way they do. They receive punishment and chastisement; but any form of attention, in their negative Mind-set, is at least some attention... Bad attention is better than none.

    It certainly felt like that is what I was doing but I was the one my friends always came to for advice and I had way too many friends. I had a birthmark taken off my face when I was little and the scar is still quite noticeable so I got the nickname "scarface" in like grade 1, lol. That gave me a complex that I didn't understand until my coworker said what she said. That I was attracted to her probably made it hit home harder.

    Nirvana
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