Buddhist Quotes - Page 33

• I am Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim and Burgher. I am a Buddhist, a Hindu, a follower of Islam and Christianity. I am today, and always, proudly Sri Lankan.

  Kumar Sangakkara

  Islam, Followers, Today

  "Kumar Sangakkara: not many compare to Sri Lanka's selfless statesman" by Andy Bull, www.theguardian.com. June 30, 2015.

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• We can't help being thirsty, moving toward the voice of water. Milk drinkers draw close to the mother. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, shamans, everyone hears the intelligent sound and moves with thirst to meet it.

  Rumi

  Christian, Mother, Rain

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• Compared with that of Taoists and Far Eastern Buddhists, the Christian attitude toward Nature has been curiously insensitive and often downright domineering and violent. Taking their cue from an unfortunate remark in Genesis, Catholic moralists have regarded animals as mere things which men do right to regard for their own ends. . . .

  Aldous Huxley

  Christian, Attitude, Men

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• On the philosophical level, both Buddhism and modern science share a deep suspicion of any notion of absolutes, whether conceptualize as a transcendent being, as an eternal, unchanging principle such as soul, or as a fundamental substratum of reality. ... In the Buddhist investigation of reality, at least in principle, empirical evidence should triumph over scriptural authority, no matter how deeply venerated a scripture may be.

  Dalai Lama

  Inspirational, Philosophical, Buddhism

  Dalai Lama XIV, Rajiv Mehrotra (2010). “In My Own Words: An Introduction to My Teachings and Philosophy”, p.151, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• The Buddhist tenet, "Non-killing is supreme virtue", is very good, but in trying to enforce it upon all by legislation without paying any heed to the capacities of the people at large, Buddhism has brought ruin upon India.

  Swami Vivekananda

  Buddhism, People, Trying

  Swami Vivekananda (2015). “The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda”, p.2368, Manonmani Publishers

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• In every country in the world, killing human beings is condemned. The Buddhist precept of non-killing extends even further, to include all living beings.

  Nhat Hanh

  Country, Animal, Vegetarianism

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• Cambodia wanted no part of SEATO. We would look after ourselves as neutrals and Buddhists.

  Norodom Sihanouk

  Looks, Wanted, Cambodia

  Prince Norodom Sihanouk (2005). “Shadow Over Angkor: Memoirs of His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia : from Original Transcript of "The Cup to the Dregs"”

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• I think my Buddhist practice has a profound influence on my life and encompasses my creative projects

  Duncan Sheik

  Thinking, Practice, Profound

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• Because of my Buddhist practice, I'm never lacking for inspiration

  Duncan Sheik

  Inspiration, Practice, Lacking

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• Dreams are a reservoir of knowledge and experience yet they are often overlooked as a vehicle for exploring reality. In the dream state our bodies are at rest, yet we see and hear, move about and are even able to learn. When we make good use of the dream state it is almost as if our lives were doubled: instead of a hundred years we live to be two hundred -- Tibetan Buddhist Tarthang Tulku from

  Stephen LaBerge

  Dream, Moving, Reality

  Stephen LaBerge (2012). “Lucid Dreaming: A Concise Guide to Awakening in Your Dreams and in Your Life”, p.7, Sounds True

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• Whenever anyone, Buddhist or not, sees a Temple or an image of Buddha they receive blessings.

  Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

  Blessing, Temples

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• According to Buddhist psychology most of our troubles stem from attachment to things that we mistakenly see as permanent.

  Dalai Lama

  Attachment, Psychology, Trouble

  Dalai Lama, Jeffrey Hopkins (2007). “How to See Yourself As You Really Are”, p.10, Simon and Schuster

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• Have big dreams but focus only on what you can control: your own thoughts, words and actions. This was Gandhi's way ... in the words of Buddhist poet Gary Snyder, our job is to move the world a millionth of an inch.

  Eboo Patel

  Dream, Jobs, Moving

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• Although you can find certain differences among the Buddhist philosophical schools about how the universe came into being, the basic common question addressed is how the two fundamental principles-external matter and internal mind or consciousness-although distinct, affect one another. External causes and conditions are responsible for certain of our experiences of happiness and suffering. Yet we find that it is principally our own feelings, our thoughts and our emotions, that really determine whether we are going to suffer or be happy.

  Dalai Lama

  Happiness, Philosophical, School

  Dalai Lama (2004). “Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great Perfection”, Snow Lion Publication

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• Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with an open heart and the willingness not to instantly try to get ground under our feet. For instance, if what we're feeling is rage, we usually assume that there are only two ways to relate to it. One is to blame others. Lay it all on somebody else; drive all blames into everyone else. The other alternative is to feel guilty about our rage and blame ourselves.

  Pema Chodron

  Pain, Heart, Mean

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• There's something Zen-like about the way I work - it's like raking gravel in a Zen Buddhist garden.

  Chuck Close

  Photography, Garden, Way

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• Celibacy is one of the most unnatural things. It has destroyed so many human beings - millions - Catholic monks, Hindu monks, Buddhist monks, Jaina monks, nuns. For centuries they have been teaching celibacy; and the most amazing thing is, even in the twentieth century, not a single medical expert, physiologist, has stood up and said that celibacy is impossible, that in the very nature of things, it cannot happen.

  Rajneesh

  Teaching, Catholic, Experts

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• Don't try to use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist; use it to be a better whatever-you-al ready-are.

  Dalai Lama

  Buddhism, Trying, Use

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• 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

  Christian, Wise, Teaching

  Nikola Tesla (2014). “My Inventions Nikola Tesla's Autobiography”, p.80, Lulu.com

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• The Buddhist expresses it in one way, the Christian in another, but both say the same: We are all one.

  Nikola Tesla

  Christian, Way, One Way

  Nikola Tesla (2016). “My Inventions: And Other Writings”, p.66, Courier Dover Publications

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• Alan Watts, the Buddhist scholar, proposed the existence of a mental faculty he called forgettory, which is the flip side of memory. There are times, Watts maintained, when we need to forget things, to let them slip away into the unremembered past.

  Larry Dossey

  Memories, Past, Needs

  Larry Dossey (2007). “The Extraordinary Healing Power of Ordinary Things: Fourteen Natural Steps to Health and Happiness”, p.31, Harmony

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• In the Buddhist approach, life and death are seen as one whole, where death is the beginning of another chapter of life. Death is the mirror in which the entire meaning of life is reflected.

  Sogyal Rinpoche

  Death, Mirrors, Meaning Of Life

  Sogyal Rinpoche (2009). “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller: Revised and Updated Edition”, p.21, Harper Collins

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• The basic Buddhist stand on the question of equality between the genders is age-old. At the highest tantric levels, at the highest esoteric level, you must respect women: every woman.

  Dalai Lama

  Age, Levels, Esoteric

  Interview with Claudia Dreifus. Archives, www.nytimes.com. 1993.

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• The goal of Buddhism is to create Buddhas, not Buddhists, as the goal of Christianity is to create Christs, not Christians.

  Adyashanti

  Christian, Buddhism, Goal

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• I'm not [a Buddhist]. The whole point of anything that is really, truly valuable to your soul, and your own growth, is not to attach to a teacher, but rather to find out what the real deal is in the world itself. You become your own guide. The teachings can help you, but really, we're all here with the opportunity the reality of hereness. We all have that. I trust that...I'm just not interested in labels. I find all of them constrictive. They're hard to wear. And they're hard to wear because we're always - hopefully - growing.

  Alice Walker

  Faith, Teacher, Real

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