Better than a thousand hollow words Is one word that brings peace. Better than a thousand hollow verses Is one verse that brings peace.
Gautama BuddhaBe lamps unto yourselves. Be refuges unto yourselves. Take yourself no external refuge. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Hold fast to the truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone besides yourselves. And those, Ananda, who either now or after I am dead, Shall be a lamp unto themselves, Shall betake themselves as no external refuge, But holding fast to the truth as their lamp, Holding fast to the truth as their refuge, Shall not look for refuge to anyone else besides themselves, It is they who shall reach to the very topmost height; But they must be anxious to learn.
Gautama BuddhaIf you are tossed about by doubts, full of strong thoughtless passions, and yearning only for that which is detrimental, your thirst will grow stronger and stronger, unquenched, and your pain will grow with your defilements.
Gautama BuddhaHe whose longing has been aroused for the indescribable, whose mind has been quickened by it, and whose thought is not attached to sensuality is truly called one who is bound upstream.
Gautama BuddhaLive happily, not hating even those who are hostile. Live peacefully even amongst those that hate.
Gautama BuddhaIn the light of his vision that is the perspective that allows him to be grateful that things are not worse he has found his freedom and joy: his thoughts are peace, his words are peace and his work is peace.
Gautama BuddhaHow easy it is to see your brother's faults, How hard it is to face your own. You winnow his in the wind like chaff, But yours you hide, Like a cheat covering up an unlucky throw. Dwelling on your brother's faults Multiplies your own. You are far from the end of your journey. The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart. See how you love.
Gautama BuddhaOnce you know the nature of anger and joy is empty and you let them go, you free yourself from karma.
Gautama BuddhaJust as a chariot is verbalized, in dependence on collections of parts, so conventionally a sentient being, is set up depending on the mental and physical aggregates
Gautama BuddhaLearn this from the waters: in mountain clefts and chasms, loud gush the streamlets, but great rivers flow silently.
Gautama BuddhaI have the True Dharma Eye, the Marvelous Mind of Nirvana, the True Form of the Formless, and the Subtle Dharma Gate, independent of words and transmitted beyond doctrine. This I have entrusted to Mahakashyapa.
Gautama BuddhaWhat is the appropriate behavior for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What's the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?
Gautama BuddhaAll that has been hidden is rising, there is no stopping it! These things you cannot hide: the sun, the moon, and TRUTH.
Gautama BuddhaLet go the past, let go the future, and let go the present (front, back, middle). Crossing to the farther shore of existence, with mind released everywhere, do not further undergo birth and decay.
Gautama BuddhaHe who harms living beings is, for that reason, not an ariya (a Noble One); he who does not harm any living being is called an ariya.
Gautama BuddhaThe Tempter masters the lazy and irresolute man who dwells on the attractive side of things, ungoverned in his senses, and unrestrained in his food, like the wind overcomes a rotten tree. But the Tempter cannot master a man who dwells on the distasteful side of things, self-controlled in his senses, moderate in eating, resolute and full of faith, like the wind cannot move a mountain crag.
Gautama BuddhaAs I am, so are others as others are, so am I. Having thus identified self and others, harm no one nor have them harmed.
Gautama BuddhaEven if a fool lived with a wise man all his life, he would still not recognise the truth, like a wooden spoon cannot recognise the flavour of the soup.
Gautama BuddhaI look upon the judgment of right and wrong as the serpentine dance of a dragon, and the rise and fall of beliefs as but traces left by the four seasons.
Gautama BuddhaHealth is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Gautama BuddhaTo force oneself to believe and to accept a thing without understanding is political, and not spiritual or intellectual.
Gautama BuddhaDo not blindly believe what others say. See for yourself what brings contentment, clarity and peace. That is the path for you to follow.
Gautama BuddhaWatch the thought and its ways with care, and let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings.
Gautama BuddhaThose who are truly wise will remain unmoved by feelings of happiness and suffering, fame and disgrace, praise and blame, gain and loss.They will remain calm like the eye of a hurricane.
Gautama BuddhaIf you don't disturb yourself, like a broken gong does not vibrate, then you have achieved nirvana. Irritability no longer exists for you.
Gautama BuddhaThe mind is pure and luminous by nature. It is defiled only by adventitious thoughts and emotions
Gautama BuddhaThere are three ways to correct our faults:We can change through behavior We can change through understanding We can change heart
Gautama BuddhaCraving brings pain; craving brings fear. If you do not yield to craving, you will be free from pain and fear
Gautama BuddhaWhen an evil-doer, seeing you practise goodness, comes and maliciously insults you, you should patiently endure it and not feel angry with him, for the evil-doer is insulting himself by trying to insult you.
Gautama BuddhaThere are two things that we should avoid, oh disciple! A life of pleasures, that is low and vain. A life of mortification, that is useless and vain.
Gautama BuddhaDo not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
Gautama BuddhaOne who previously made bad karma, but who reforms and creates good karma, brightens the world like the moon appearing from behind a cloud.
Gautama Buddha