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Buddha Quotes

Browse 275 quotes about Buddha.

Buddha Quotes

“Sages told the king that prince Siddhartha would become a Sanyasi, To avoid it, king kept him within the luxuries of the palace for years. When prince went out, he suddenly saw sick, old, dead and suffering people. He became a Sanyasi. Had prince gone out and seen suffering from childhood, he would have become used to it like we have. He wouldn’t have become a Sanyasi. Telling the destiny and avoiding the destiny are a part of destiny.”

SpiritualityDestinyBuddhismAstrologyBuddhaHinduFortune Telling
Author:Shunya
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“The foundational Vajrakilaya is the sun shining in the sky behind the clouds. The path Vajrakilaya is the removal of the clouds from the sky through the force of wind and rain, or whatever; it is the path of method and wisdom, combined. And the resultant Vajrakilaya is the nature of your mind, the nature of your rigpa, which is the same mind as the mind of the primordial buddha, Kuntuzangpo. The path Vajrakilaya is the removal of the adventitious veil of obscuration that covers rigpa. Applying the method by practicing generation stage (kyerim) and completion stage (dzogrim), accumulating merit and purifying negative karma, removing that veil, is the path. The result is realizing that ones own self nature is buddha. So the result is the same as the foundation. In the beginning you are buddha, and in the end you are buddha.”

SunNondualityBuddhaTantraVajrakilaya
Book:Commentaries on the Practice of Vajrakilaya
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“To get carried away by a thought is the state of a sentient being. Rather than that, recognize your basic state as being the essence, nature and capacity that are the three kayas of the buddhas. Remain in uncontrived naturalness for short moments, repeated many times. You can become accustomed to this. The short moments can grow longer. In one instant of remaining in unfabricated naturalness, a kalpa of negative karma is purified.”

NaturalEssenceKarmaThoughtBuddha
Book:As It Is, Volume II
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“Gautama erkannte, dass jede unserer Erfahrungen unser Begehren weckt, und dass dieses Begehren neue Unzufriedenheit schürt. Wenn wir eine angenehme Erfahrung machen, wollen wir, dass diese Erfahrung nie endet, sondern im Gegenteil immer intensiver wird. Und wenn wir eine unangenehme Erfahrung machen, dann wollen wir, dass diese Erfahrung aufhört. Daher ist unser Geist immer unzufrieden und rastlos. [...] Gautama erkannte jedoch, dass es eine Möglichkeit gibt, diesem Teufelskreis zu entkommen. Wenn wir eine Erfahrung - sei sie angenehm oder unangenehm - einfach als das nehmen, was sie ist, dann verursacht sie kein Leid. Wenn wir Trauer empfinden, ohne ein Ende dieses Zustands herbeizusehnen, dann können wir diese Trauer spüren, ohne unter ihr zu leiden. Und wenn wir Freude empfinden, ohne uns nach immer mehr und immer intensiverer Freude zu sehnen, dann können wir diese Freude erleben, ohne dabei unseren inneren Frieden zu verlieren.”

BuddhaTrauerFreudeBuddhismusErfahrungenBegehrenGautamaInnerer Frieden
Book:Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
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“When I did a therapist education in USA 1984, one of the course leaders – who had given personal and spiritual guidance to thousands of seekers of truth from all over the world, and who I consider to be one of the best spiritual therapists in the world – said that I was going to get enlightened, that I would ”disappear into the silence”. I did not really understand what he meant then, and it was totally absurd for me when other course participants congratulated me afterwards. The thought that I was going to be enlightened was totally absurd for me. For me enlightenment was something that happened to special and chosen persons like Osho, Buddha, Jesus, Lao-Tzu and Krishnamurti. I did not feel either special or chosen. I did not feel worthy of being enlightened.”

LifeSpiritualityJesusSilenceEnlightenmentBuddhaOshoKrishnamurtiLao Tzu
Book:Presence - Working from Within. The Psychology of Being
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“The Storyteller The little boy stumbled through the forest. He was sure that wild animals were chasing him, and wanted to eat him. As he crashed through the undergrowth he suddenly emerged into a clearing. He looked around, fearing that he could hear animals, but all was quiet. The little boy walked further into the clearing. He saw a small stool with a book on it. He stopped, and looked around wondering who had left the stool, and the book there. He walked over to the stool, and picked up the book to look at it. Without thinking, he sat down, and opened the book. He started to read aloud. The only sound in the clearing was the little boy’s voice. He had forgotten about his earlier fear, and he had also stopped imagining that he could hear animals after him. Once he had finished reading the story he put the book down, and he said to the clearing, “I’ll come back tomorrow to read again.” The little boy left the clearing and reentered the forest. He wasn’t afraid anymore. It was if he had a new found confidence, and manner. The next day he returned, and found a different book on the stool, and as before, he sat down, and started to read. This went on for a week. After seven days animals started to come through the undergrowth, and entered the clearing. When they saw the boy, and heard his storytelling they would stop, find a place to sit down, and listen to him. One day he heard a roar behind him, and the little boy turned around, coming face to face with a tiger. “Shhh!” he told the tiger, and gave it a smack across the nose. The tiger was taken aback, but he did as he was told and he went to a tree. Then he too, sat and listened to the little boy. This went on for many years, and some animals died never to return, while others grew old as the little boy did. One day, when the little boy was no more but a little old man he died as he was reading one of his stories. The animals looked up, and listened to the silence. Wild dogs howled, elephants trumpeted their calls, birds tweeted and chirped, monkeys chatted and tigers roared as one. The tiger, who many years ago the little boy had smacked across the nose, carried the little boy, and laid him to rest under his tree. The animals lined up to pay their respects to the little boy who had devoted his life to reading to the animals. As they lined up, they were watched by God, Buddha, Allah and Ganesha, who were standing off to the side. They had tears in their eyes, not because the little boy had died, but because as each animal came to the body of the little boy, each animal would lay their head down on his chest, and shed tears over the boy’s body. Finally a small baby elephant came, and laid his head, and trunk down on the little boy’s body, and his tears flowed over the little boy’s chest. When the animals had left, there was an eerie silence over the clearing. Many, many years passed until one day, a small girl come running through the bushes, with a frightened look on her face. She stopped, and looked around the clearing. She saw a small stool, and so she walked over to it, wondering who would leave such a thing here in the forest. She sat down on the stool and looked down. She saw a box full of books. The little boy smiled.”

GodAnthony T HincksAnimalsHincksThe Prophet AvocatoriumBuddhaAllahThe StorytellerGanesha
Author:Anthony T. Hincks
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“But the statue attracted a middle-aged, brown-haired, overweight White guy. Clearly drunk, he climbed onto the tiny stage and started fondling Buddha before his laughing audience of drunk friends at a nearby table. I had learned a long time ago to tune out the antics of drunk White people doing things that could get a Black person arrested. Harmless White fun is Black lawlessness.”

RacismAfrican AmericansBlacksStatuesDrunkennessBuddhaWhitesBad BehaviorInappropriate Behavior
Book:How to Be an Antiracist
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“Calming allows us to rest, and resting is a precondition for healing. When animals in the forest get wounded, they find a place to lie down, and they rest completely for many days. They don't think about food or anything else. They just rest, and they get the healing they need. When we humans get sick, we just worry! We look for doctors and medicine, but we don't stop. Even when we go to the beach or the mountains for a vacation, we don't rest, and we come back more tired than before. We have to learn to rest. Lying down is not the only position for resting. During sitting or walking meditation, we can rest very well. Meditation does not have to be hard labor. Just allow your body and mind to rest like an animal in the forest. Don't struggle. There is no need to attain anything. I am writing a book, but I am not struggling. I am resting also. Please read in a joyful, yet restful way. The Buddha said, "My Dharma is the practice of non-practice." Practice in a way that does not tire you out, but gives your body, emotions, and consciousness a chance to rest. Our body and mind have the capacity to heal themselves if we allow them to rest. Stopping, calming, and resting are preconditions for healing. If we cannot stop, the course of our destruction will just continue. The world needs healing. Individuals, communities, and nations need healing.”

HealingMeditationBuddhaCalmingResting
Book:The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
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