Buddha was not a Christian, but Jesus would have made a good Buddhist. — Ray Wylie Hubbard
Buddhism teaches you to embrace change. — Koo Stark
Zen Buddhism is a discipline where belief isn't necessary. — David Sylvian
Buddhism has become a socially recognized religious philosophy for Americans, whereas it used to be considered an exotic religion. — Thurston Moore
I describe myself as a simple Buddhist monk. No more, no less. — Dalai Lama
I haven't got any Buddhism. I live by letting things happen. — Dogen
If you study carefully, you will see that Buddhism is based on reason. There is an element of flexibility inherent in it, which is not found in any other religion. — B. R. Ambedkar
Buddha means awareness, the awareness of body and mind that prevents evil from arising in either. — Bodhidharma
To define Buddhism without a lot of words and phrases, we can simply say, 'Don't cling or hold on to anything. Harmonize with actuality, with things as they are.' — Ajahn Chah
The word Buddha comes from the Sanskrit word Budh, meaning, to be awake. So Buddha is not a name and ultimately not a person, but a state of consciousness. — Eckhart Tolle
Buddhism is all about science. If science is the systematic pursuit of the accurate knowledge of reality, then science is Buddhism, Buddhism is science. — Robert Thurman
Ju jitsu is very Buddhist. All that we fear we hold close to ourselves to survive. So if you're drowning and you see a corpse floating by, hang on to it because it will rescue you. — Tom Hardy
Ultimately one must abandon the path to enlightenment. If you still define yourself as a Buddhist, you are not a buddha yet. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
Christian, Jew, Muslim, shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the mystery, unique and not to be judged. — Rumi
Short Buddhist Quotes
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle. Happiness never decreases by being shared. — Buddha
I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done. — Marie Curie
The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass. — Dogen
Three things cannot long be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. — Confucius
All rising to great places is by a winding stair. — Buddha
Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality. — Dalai Lama
What you think you become. — Buddha
My religion is to live and die without regret. — Milarepa
Light must come from inside. You cannot ask the darkness to leave; you must turn on the light. — Sogyal Rinpoche
One moment can change a day, One day can change a life and One life can change the world — Buddha
Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other. — Dalai Lama
We suffer because we want life to be different from what it is. We suffer because we try to make pleasurable what is painful, to make solid what is fluid, to make permanent what is always changing. — Sakyong Mipham
If the problem can be solved why worry? If the problem cannot be solved worrying will do you no good. — Shantideva
Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken. Take heed, do not squander your life. — Dogen
If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path. — Buddha
Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day. — A. A. Milne
This is bravery: using the challenge of daily life to sharpen our mind and open our heart. — Sakyong Mipham
Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion. — Nhat Hanh
He who experiences the unity of life sees his own self in all beings. — Buddha
Realization is not knowledge about the universe, but the living experience of the nature of the universe. Until we have such living experience, we remain dependent on examples, and subject to their limits. — Namkhai Norbu
Wise Buddhist Quotes
Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them. — Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
The answer lies within ourselves. If we can't find peace and happiness there, it's not going to come from the outside. — Tenzin Palmo
You are never alone or helpless. The force that guides the stars guides you too. — Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar
Good men and bad men differ radically. Bad men never appreciate kindness shown them, but wise men appreciate and are grateful. Wise men try to express their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to everyone else — Buddha
When a wise man is advised of his errors, he will reflect on and improve his conduct. When his misconduct is pointed out, a foolish man will not only disregard the advice but rather repeat the same error. — Buddha
Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do; give it to what you do or fail to do. — Buddha
Whatever we do lays a seed in our deepest consciousness, and one day that seed will grow. — Sakyong Mipham
For ages this idea has been proclaimed in the consummately wise teachings of religion, probably not alone as a means of insuring peace and harmony among men, but as a deeply founded truth. The Buddhist expresses it in one way, the Christian in another, but both say the same: We are all one. — Nikola Tesla
The fragrance of sandalwood and rosebay does not travel far. But the fragrance of virtue rises to the heavens. — Buddha
There is no fire like passion
No crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation,
No sickness like hunger,
And no joy like the joy of freedom. — Buddha
Buddhist Meditation Quotes
Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. What you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing. — Ajahn Chah
All meditation must begin with arousing deep compassion. Whatever one does must emerge from an attitude of love and benefitting others. — Milarepa
I'm expressin' with my full capabilities,
And now I'm livin in correctional facilities.
Cause some don't agree with how I do this,
I get straight and meditate like a Buddhist. — Dr. Dre
If you let cloudy water settle, it will become clear. If you let your upset mind settle, your course will also become clear. — Buddha
In horror of death, I took to the mountains - again and again I meditated on the uncertainty of the hour of death, capturing the fortress of the deathless unending nature of mind. Now all fear of death is over and done. — Milarepa
Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment. — Nhat Hanh
When sitting in meditation, say, "That's not my business!" with every thought that comes by. — Ajahn Chah
Movement is good for the body. Stillness is good for the mind. — Sakyong Mipham
Mind is everything. What we think, we become. — Buddha
If you have a glass full of liquid you can discourse forever on its qualities, discuss whether it is cold, warm, whether it is really and truly composed of H-2-O, or even mineral water, or saki. Meditation is Drinking it! — Taisen Deshimaru
Zen Buddhist Quotes
Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows, by itself. — Matsuo Basho
However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you If you do not act on upon them? — Buddha
In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves. — Abraham Joshua Heschel
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. — Buddha
Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun. — Alan Watts
Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. — Buddha
Harmonizing opposites by going back to their source is the distinctive quality of the Zen attitude, the Middle Way: embracing contradictions, making a synthesis of them, achieving balance. — Taisen Deshimaru
Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everythiong else. — Buddha
To say one is revolutionary is a little like saying one is a Zen Buddhist - if you say you are, you probably aren't. — Lawrence Ferlinghetti
The greatest effort is not concerned with results. — Atisa
Buddhist Philosophy Quotes
"All conditioned things are impermanent" - when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. — Buddha
I follow four dictates: face it, accept it, deal with it, then let it go. — Sheng-yen
If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. — Buddha
To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue. — Buddha
A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker. — Buddha
Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill. — Buddha
To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent. — Buddha
All philosophies are mental fabrications. There has never been a single doctrine by which one could enter the true essence of things. — Akkineni Nagarjuna
From the high spiritual flights of the Vedanta philosophy, of which the latest discoveries of science seem like echoes, to the low ideas of idolatry with its multifarious mythology, the agnosticism of the Buddhists and the atheism of the Jains, each and all have a place in the Hinduism religion. — Swami Vivekananda
Real Buddhist Quotes
Master your words. Master your thoughts. Never allow your body to do harm. Follow these three roads with purity And you will find yourself upon the one way, The way of wisdom. — Buddha
A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, so he escapes the suffering. — Buddha
Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts. — Buddha
How easy it is to see your brother's faults, How hard it is to face your own. — Buddha
The world, indeed, is like a dream and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage! Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves, but they are like heat haze. — Buddha
A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals the secret of some hidden treasure. — Dalai Lama
Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love. — Buddha
Let a man avoid evil deeds as a man who loves life avoids poison. — Buddha
There is no fire like passion: there is no evil and hatred. — Buddha
Whatever is subject to origination is all subject to cessation. — Buddha
Daily Buddhist Quotes
We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. — Buddha
Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two. — Buddha
Through violence, you may 'solve' one problem, but you sow the seeds for another. — Dalai Lama
Hatred does not cease through hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through love. This is an unalterable law. — Buddha
Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace. — Buddha
At a personal level, as a Buddhist practitioner, I deliberately visualize and think about death in my daily practice. Death is not separated from our lives. Due to my research and thoughts about death, I have some guarantee and some conviction that it will be a positive experience. — Dalai Lama
Sackcloth and kelp soup are not required, but the Buddhist reminder of the need to live lightly on the earth is a helpful guide to the daily habits and needs of us all. — Tom Brokaw
Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence. — Buddha
Buddhism Quotes
If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it? — Dogen
Do not encumber your mind with useless thoughts. What good does it do to brood on the past or anticipate the future? Remain in the simplicity of the present moment. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher. — Pema Chodron
In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create disticntions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true. — Buddha
On the day that you were born, you began to die. Do not waste a single moment more! — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship. — Buddha
Treat every moment as your last. It is not preparation for something else. — Shunryu Suzuki
Learn to be happy in any and all circumstances, whether you're experiencing pleasure or pain, whether there's loss or gain, whether the world loves you or hates you. Learn to be happy. — Frederick Lenz
Life is fragile, like the dew hanging delicately on the grass, crystal drops that will be carried away on the first morning breeze. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
I've tried Buddhism, Scientology, Numerology, Transcendental Meditation, Qabbala, t'ai chi, feng shui and Deepak Chopra but I find straight gin works best. — Phyllis Diller
Good Buddhist Quotes
Since everything is but an apparition, having nothing to do with good or bad, acceptance or rejection, one may well burst out in laughter. — Longchenpa
Saints and ordinary folks are the same from the start. Inquiring about a difference is like asking to borrow string when you've got a good strong rope. Every Dharma is known in the heart. — Hsu Yun
I see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity ... I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I can. — Thomas Merton
To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him. — Buddha
If you cannot find a good companion to walk with, walk alone, like an elephant roaming the jungle. It is better to be alone than to be with those who will hinder your progress. — Buddha
There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it. — Buddha
The right time to show your good character is when you are pestered by someone weaker than you. — Buddha
It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others. — Dalai Lama
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. — Buddha
Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good. — Buddha
Buddhist Monk Quotes
The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life. — Nhat Hanh
You haven't partied until you've partied at dawn in complete silence with Buddhist monks. — Cameron Diaz
Anger and hatred are the real enemies that we must confront and defeat, not the 'enemies' who appear from time to time in our lives. — Dalai Lama
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. — Nhat Hanh
Buddhist monks have known for centuries that meditation can change the mind. Now we are inspired by His Holiness to examine with our technology the precise brain changes that occur with practice... The unique collaboration on meditation is just beginning. — Richard Davidson
I can't tell how moving it is to open my email and see a picture of 1,500 Buddhist monks and nuns in the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh forming a human 350 against the backdrop of the melting glaciers. This is not their fault, and yet they're stepping up to be part of the solution. — Bill McKibben
He who can curb his wrath as soon as it arises, as a timely antidote will check snake's venom that so quickly spreads, - such a monk gives up the here and the beyond, just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin. — Buddha
When I was a teenager, I wanted to be in a group, or I wanted to work for Greenpeace, or I wanted to be a Buddhist monk. Those were the only three things I really wanted to do. I was doing some sort of soul searching in life. — Dave Wakeling
Originally, I was interested in athletic pursuits like snowboarding, martial arts and surfing. When I went to the Himalayas and met a number of Buddhist monks I was introduced to a new way of looking at life. — Frederick Lenz
There is, Oh Monks, a not-born, a not-become, a not-made, a not-compounded. Monks, if that unborn, not-become, not-made, not-compounded were not, there would be no escape from this here that is born, become, made and compounded. — Buddha
Buddha Quotes
In the monastery of your heart, you have a temple where all Buddhas unite. — Milarepa
If you want to travel the Way of Buddhas and Zen masters, then expect nothing, seek nothing, and grasp nothing. — Dogen
I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong. — John Lennon
Putting the gold leaf on the back of a Buddha statue. — Thai Proverbs
So I cast my lot with Him-not the one who claimed wisdom, Confucius; or the one who claimed enlightenment, Buddha; or the one who claimed to be a prophet, Muhammad, but with the one who claimed to be God in human flesh. The one who declared, 'Before Abraham was born, I am'-and proved it. — Norman Geisler
If Jesus, Moses, the Buddha and Mohammed
were to bump into each other along the road
and go have a cup of tea or whatever,
I think we all know
they would treat one another far different and far better
than a lot of their followers would. — Brian D. McLaren
The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed. - Buddha No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. — Buddha
Buddha left a road map, Jesus left a road map, Krishna left a road map, Rand McNally left a road map. But you still have to travel the road yourself — Stephen Levine
The mouth prays to Buddha, but the heart is full of evil. — Vietnamese Proverbs
Who do you think was smarter, Jesus or Buddha? I mean, just in terms of not letting themselves get crucified. — Anthony Jeselnik
Buddhism And Christianity Quotes
Do unto others as you would have them do to you, said the rapist. — Bo Burnham
I urge you to sin. But not against these itty-bitty religions, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism-or their secular derivatives, Marxism, Maoism, Freudianism and Jungianism-whic h are all derivatives of the big religion of patriarchy. Sin against the infrastructure itself! — Mary Daly
The convent, which belongs to the West as it does to the East, to antiquity as it does to the present time, to Buddhism and Muhammadanism as it does to Christianity, is one of the optical devices whereby man gains a glimpse of infinity. — Victor Hugo
Whether you look at Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism, wherever a distinction of sex is made, it is to the advantage of men. If you think of religions as if they were novels, the authors are men, and so are the major characters. — Katha Pollitt
Belief in heaven and hell is a big deal in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and some forms of doctrinaire Buddhism. For the rest of us it's simply meaningless. We don't live in order to die, we live in order to live. — Ursula K. Le Guin
I believe that everybody has the right to believe what they want to believe and to knock somebody's faith and religion is foolish, whatever it may be - Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism. — Nicolas Cage
I think Christianity is the same as Buddhism and Hinduism - whenever a religion begins to say that these are the things you have to do to be loved by God, you have a religion. — Erwin McManus
Buddhism and Christianity are incompatible because there is no God in Buddhism - particularly in Theravada Buddhism. But they are also allies because their values and practices are compatible and they can work together - indeed, they would benefit greatly from doing so. — Ninian Smart
Subtract miracles from Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, or Toaism, and you have essentially the same religion left. Subtract miracles from Christianity, and you have nothing but the cliches and platitudes most American Christians get weekly (and weakly) from their pulpits. — Peter Kreeft
Buddhism is a hundred times as realistic as Christianity it is part of its living heritage that it is able to face problems objectively and coolly; it is the product of long centuries of philosophical speculation. — Friedrich Nietzsche
Follow the three R's: - Respect for self. - Respect for others. - Responsibility for all your actions. — Dalai Lama
Every civilization:
Hindu, Buddhist, Confucianist, Christian, Jewish and Muslim, all of them understood that LEARNING was to make a BETTER HUMAN BEING, LEARNING was NOT to MAKE MORE MONEY;
It was to make a BETTER HUMAN BEING. — Hamza Yusuf
God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. All of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God. I honor my tradition, I walk through my tradition, but I don't think my tradition defines God, I think it only points me to God. — John Shelby Spong
By whomsoever no evil is done in deed, or word, or thought, him I call a Brahmin (holy man) who is guarded in these three. — Buddha
That which you give to another will become your own sustenance; if you light a lamp for another, your own way will be lit. — Nichiren
Reconciliation is to understand both sides; to go to one side and describe the suffering being endured by the other side, and then go to the other side and describe the suffering being endured by the first side. — Nhat Hanh
So war and peace start in the human heart. Whether that heart is open or whether that heart closes has global implications. — Pema Chodron
It isn't what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it's what we say to ourselves about what happens. — Pema Chodron
As a lotus flower is born in water, grows in water and rises out of water to stand above it unsoiled, so I, born in the world, raised in the world having overcome the world, live unsoiled by the world — Buddha
Strong and healthy, who thinks of sickness until it strikes like lightning? Preoccupied with the world, who thinks of death, until it arrives like thunder? — Milarepa
People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle. — Nhat Hanh
I Have Learned so much from God That I can no longer call myself A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, A Buddhist, a Jew. — Hafez
In Conclusion
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