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Dharma Quotes

Browse 358 quotes about Dharma.

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Dharma Quotes

“I was born in England and brought up in London. When I was 18 I read a book and came across the Dharma. I was halfway through the book when I turned to my mother and said, "I'm a Buddhist," to which she replied, "Oh are you dear? Well finish the book and then you can tell me about it." I realised I'd always been Buddhist but I just hadn't known it existed, because in those days not even the word 'Buddha' was ever spoken. This was in in the 1960s, so there wasn't that much available, even in London.”

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Author:Tenzin Palmo
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“All of the external circumstances and the rude and difficult people we meet, instead of getting angry, upset, or frustrated, we see that we can take them all and use them on the path in a way that actually invigorates and strengthens us, rather than defeats us. It's all very practical advice, and that's why I talk a lot about how to make our daily life into Dharma practice, otherwise it's easy to feel hopeless and helpless.”

PeopleWayFeelsUseEasyDifficultPracticePathAdviceCircumstancesAngryDefeatPracticalsUpsetDaily LifeHopelessFrustratedHelplessRudeDharma
Author:Tenzin Palmo
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“We live in a society which is heading in one direction, so it's good to have at least a few friends who share the same values and can encourage us and help us to remember that we're not alone or peculiar, but that what we're doing is a very valid way of life. This will encourage us to put the Dharma at the centre of our life and not the periphery, to use our daily life as our Dharma practice.”

WayHelpingUseRememberValuesPracticeOur LivesShareDaily LifePeculiarCentreNot AloneDharmaHeadingsOne DirectionFew FriendsPeriphery
Author:Tenzin Palmo
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“I think it would help if, when people are first ordained, they underwent a period of strict training, maybe for several years. During this time they would learn basic Buddhist philosophy in a monastic community where all the teaching and training was directed toward living a perfect monastic life and wasn't channeled out to fit into the lay life - which is what usually happens in Dharma centers where the teachings are directed toward how to live the Dharma in your everyday life.”

PeopleIfsThinkingYearsFirstsPhilosophyHelpingHappensCommunityPerfectTeachingPeriodsFitTrainingLaysEverydayBuddhistStrictEveryday LifeDharmaMonastic LifeBuddhist Philosophy
Author:Tenzin Palmo
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“Perhaps Westerners are in a better position to practice true renunciation than uneducated Orientals because most Western people, by the time they come to the Dharma, have led a pretty full worldly life with lots of sensual pleasures, money and lots of toys to play with. They have seen that the path of accumulation of worldly treasure does not lead to happiness or contentment. That's why they come to the Dharma.”

PeopleDoePlayPleasurePracticePathPositionWesternTreasureSensualContentmentToysWorldlyAccumulationDharmaRenunciationUneducatedWorldly LifeWesternersSensual Pleasure
Author:Tenzin Palmo
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“The third component of the Law of Dharma is service to humanity--to serve your fellow human beings and to ask yourself the questions,"How can I help? How can I help all those that I come into contact with?" When you combine the ability to express your unique talent with service to humanity, then you make full use of the Law of Dharma.”

HumansHelpingUseSpiritualLawHumanityAsksHuman BeingsAbilityTalentUniqueThirdsFellowsContactComponentsDharmaService To HumanityUnique Talents
Book:The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams
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“According to this law [the law of Dharma], you have a unique talent and a unique way of expressing it. There is something that you can do better than anyone else in the whole world--and for every unique talent and unique expression of that talent, there are also unique needs. When these needs are matched with the creative expression of your talent, that is the spark that creates affluence. Expressing your talents to fulfill needs creates unlimited wealth and abundance.”

WorldWayNeedsWholeSpiritualLawCan DoWealthCreativeTalentExpressionUniqueWhole WorldAbundanceSparksUnlimitedDharmaAffluenceMatchedCreative ExpressionUnique Talents
Author:Deepak Chopra
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“Dharma Bums refusing to subscribe to the general demand that they consume production and therefore have to work for the privilege of consuming, all that cramp they didn't really want anyway such as refrigerators, TV sets, cars, at least new fancy cars, certain hair oils and deodorants and general junk you finally always see a week later in the garbage anyway, all of them imprisoned in a system of work, produce, consume, work, produce, consume.”

WantCertainWeekCarProduceTvsHairDemandPrivilegeProductionsOilFancyGarbageConsumingJunkDharmaRefrigeratorsCrampsDeodorantDharma BumsFancy Cars
Author:Jack Kerouac
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“Dharma gives you the balance. It gives you the establishment into proper behavior, proper understanding, proper living, but it doesn't give you the completion of your journey. It doesn't give you the satisfaction of reaching the destination and your personality is still incomplete. So one has to have the experience of the spirit.”

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Author:Nirmala Srivastava
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“Having no background in philosophic thought and ignorant of the reasons supporting their faith, they experience great uneasiness when someone questions their beliefs. Such people often live closely guarded lives, fearful of encountering someone or something that might shatter their insecure spiritual foundation.This attitude, however, is not the fault of religion but of their own limited understanding. True Dharma leads in exactly the opposite direction. It enables one to integrate all the many diverse experiences of life into a meaningful and coherent whole, thereby banishing fear and insecurity completely.”

PeopleWholeMightSpiritualReligionFearUnderstandingAttitudeOppositesFoundationFaultsMeaningfulBuddhistInsecurityFearfulDiverseInsecureDharmaIntegratingGuardedLead In
Author:Thubten Yeshe
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“The person who understands Dharma will have the opposite reaction to a "hard" job. That person will be eager to get started, no matter what kind of work is in front of her, because she understands that she's doing God's work. And when you're working for God, nothing is too hard.”

KindPersonsMatterHardActionJobsFrontsOppositesNo Matter WhatReactionsDharmaWorking For God
Book:Do You!: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success
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“There are several realms which ordinary persons do not perceive. Because they cannot see them, that doesn't mean they don't exist. One of these realms is the sambhogakaya that can only be visited by highly realized Bodhisattvas. In the pure realm of the sambhogakaya, the Dharma is continuously taught. One sambhogakaya realm is Tushita, which is presided over by the next Buddha, the Maitreya Buddha. Buddha Shakyamuni dwelled there before coming to earth to give Dharma teachings.”

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Author:Thrangu Rinpoche
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“The individuation of dharma practice occurs whenever priority is given to the resolution of a personal existential dilemma over the need to conform to the doctrines of a Buddhist orthodoxy. Individuation is a process of recovering personal authority through freeing ourselves from the constraints of collectively held belief systems.”

NeedsBeliefGivenProcessPracticeAuthorityPrioritiesDoctrineBuddhistResolutionExistentialConformConstraintsDharmaOrthodoxyDilemmaBelief SystemsRecoveringIndividuation
Author:Stephen Batchelor
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