Buddha Quotes

There are fabulous quotations by Buddha.
Posting a few to show his wise approach to life, enjoy...:)

A jug fills drop by drop.
- Buddha

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
- Buddha

All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?
- Buddha

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.
- Buddha

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.
- Buddha

Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.
- Buddha

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
- Buddha

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
- Buddha

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.
Buddha

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.
- Buddha

He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.
- Buddha

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
- Buddha

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
Buddha

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

I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.
- Buddha

I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.
- Buddha

In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.
- Buddha

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then beleive them to be true.
Buddha

It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.
- Buddha

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
- Buddha

Is Buddhism A Religion? - Part Two

The Conditioned, The Unconditioned, and Consciousness

Religions always point to the relationship of the mortal, or the conditioned, with the Unconditioned. That is, if you strip any religion down to its very basic essence, you will find that it is pointing to where the mortal, the conditioned and time-bound , ceases. In that cessation is the realization and the understanding of the Unconditioned. In Buddhist terminology, it is said that "there is the Unconditioned; and if there were not the Unconditioned, there could not be the conditioned." The conditioned arises and ceases in the Unconditioned, and therefore we can point to the relationship between the conditioned and the Unconditioned. Having been born into a human body we have to live a lifetime under the limitations and conditions of the sensory world. Birth implies that we come forth out of the Unconditioned and manifest in a separate, conditioned form. And this human from implies consciousness. Consciousness always defines a relationship between subject and object, and in Buddhism consciousness is regarded as a discriminative function of the mind. So contemplate this right now. You are sitting there paying attention to these words. This is the experience of consciousness. You can feel the heat in the room, you can see your surroundings, you can hear the sounds. All this implies that you have been born in a human body and for the rest of your life, as long as this body lives, it will have feelings, and consciousness will be arising. This consciousness always creates the impression of a subject and an object, so that when we do not investigate, do not look into the true nature of things, then we become bound to the dualistic view of "I am my body, I am my feelings, I am my consciousness."

Thus, a dualistic attitude arises from consciousness. And then, from our ability to conceive and remember and perceive with our minds, we create a personality. Sometimes we enjoy this personality. Other times we have irrational fears, wrong views, and anxieties about it.

Aspiration of the Human Mind

At the present time, for any society in the materialistic world, much of the human anguish and despair arises from the fact that we don't usually relate ourselves to anything higher than the planet we live on and to our human body. So the aspiration of t he human mind towards an ultimate realization, towards enlightenment, is not really promoted or encouraged in modern society. In fact it often seems to be discouraged. Without this relationship with the higher Truth, our lives become meaningless. We cannot relate to anything beyond the experiences of a human body on a planet, in a mysterious universe, all our life really amounts to is putting in time from birth to death. Then, of course, what is the purpose, what is the meaning of it? And why do we care? Why do we need a purpose? Why must there be a meaning to life? Why do we want life to be meaningful? Why do we have words, concepts, and religions? Why do we have that longing or that aspiration in our minds if all there ever is, or all there ever can be, is this experience based on the view of self? Can it be that this human body, with its conditioning process, simply lands on us fortuitously in a universal system that is beyond our control? We live in a universe that is a mystery to us. We can only wonder about it. We can intuit and gaze at the universe, but we cannot put it into a little capsule. We cannot make it into something in our mind. Therefore, materialistic tendencies in our minds encourage us not to even ask those questions. Or else these tendencies make us interpret all life's experience in the realm of logic or reason, based on the values of materialism and empirical science.

Venerable Ajahn Sumedho