Ancient Buddhist Quotes

Man is an onion made up of a hundred integuments, a texture made up of many threads. The ancient Asiatics knew this well enough, and in the Buddhist Yoga an exact technique was devised for unmasking the illusion of the personality. The human merry-go-round sees many changes: the illusion that cost India the efforts of thousands of years to unmask is the same illusion that the West has labored just as hard to maintain and strengthen. ~ Hermann Hesse

One of my practices comes from an ancient Indian teacher. He taught that when you experience some tragic situation, think about it. If there's no way to overcome the tragedy, then there is no use worrying too much. So I practice that. (The Dalai Lama was referring to the eighth-century Buddhist master Shantideva, who wrote, "If something can be done about the situation, what need is there for dejection? And if nothing can be done about it, what use is there for being dejected?") ~ Dalai Lama XIV

If the Truth is already clear, what is the use of meditation?' " " 'And if the Truth is hidden?' " Toranaga said. " 'It's already clear,' " Hiro-matsu answered correctly. The quotation was from the ancient Tantric Buddhist teacher, Saraha. ~ James Clavell

If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him. ~ Gautama Buddha

Born out of concern for all beings. ~ Gautama Buddha

And finally, be assured that Zen asks nothing even as it promises nothing. One can be a Protestant Zen Buddhist, a Catholic Zen Buddhist or a Jewish Zen Buddhist. Zen is a quiet thing. It listens. ~ Howard Fast

A wise man, recognizing that the world is but an illusion, does not act as if it is real, so he escapes the suffering. ~ Gautama Buddha

The greatest effort is not concerned with results. ~ Atisa

I'm no buddhist, but this is fu**ing enlightmentment ~ Bjork

It is desirable for Buddhist affairs to help civilian rule. ~ Ye Xiaowen

Just studying Buddhism, then meditating and going to Buddhist monasteries, talking to Buddhist monks, combined with the Thai people themselves, changed the way I look at the world. ~ John Burdett

A Buddhist monk has a responsibility first and foremost to themselves, and that's to find the truth each day in every part of their life. ~ Frederick Lenz

I was initiated as a Buddhist monk at the age of 19, but I think that initiation is simply a starting point. ~ Frederick Lenz

To say one is revolutionary is a little like saying one is a Zen Buddhist - if you say you are, you probably aren't. ~ Lawrence Ferlinghetti

I consider myself a Hindu, Christian, Moslem, Jew, Buddhist and Confucian. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Don't become a Buddhist. The world doesn't need Buddhist. Do practice Compassion. The world needs more compassion. ~ Dalai Lama

It's much better to become a Buddha than a Buddhist. ~ Jack Kornfield

The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis. ~ Dalai Lama

I'm just the worst little Buddhist in town. ~ Cher

I meditate twice a day. I chant. I lean more towards Buddhist practices. ~ Taryn Manning

According to Zen Buddhist cosmology there are ten thousand different states of mind to view and understand life through. ~ Frederick Lenz

In Buddhist practice, the outward and inward aspects of taking the one seat meet on our meditation cushion. ~ Jack Kornfield

In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this. ~ Terry Pratchett

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

Whenever anyone, Buddhist or not, sees a Temple or an image of Buddha they receive blessings. ~ Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

From a Buddhist perspective, it is incorrect to always assume that we know what is best. ~ Frederick Lenz

Unfortunately, however, I have too many desires to make a good Buddhist. ~ Jim Coleman

Imagine the wisdom to be passed down from the classical Buddhist texts. ~ Russell Brand

I certainly haven't lived the life of a Buddhist monk. ~ Burton Cummings

In the world of Buddhist mind, in the advanced states, we go beyond time, space, life, death and Newsweek. ~ Frederick Lenz

I'm nothing special, just an ordinary human being. That's why I always describe myself as a simple Buddhist monk. ~ Dalai Lama

I don't know how many serious Christians exist here in America, but the Japanese, the younger generation is leaving the Buddhist religion mentality behind. ~ Hiroshi Sugimoto

If you light a lamp for someone it will also brighten your path. ~ Buddhist Proverb

In ancient times, those who followed the Way did not try to give people knowledge thereof, but kept them ignorant. ~ Laozi

Personally, my interests are ancient history and ancient civilizations. In my own life, I'd like to go to places like Easter Island. ~ Nicolas Cage

Nature will not be Buddhist: she resents generalizing, and insults the philosopher in every moment with a million fresh particulars. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I practice Buddhist philosophy and contemplation but I don't know if I'm more of anything. ~ Goldie Hawn

Advanced Buddhist Yoga is the art of altering your karmic patterns. ~ Frederick Lenz

Society doesn't need that everybody is behaving in the full normal way ... like people in a Buddhist monastery ... But eccentricity may also connect with the irrational. ~ John Muir

The interdependency of humankind, the relevance of relationship, the sacredness of creation is ancient, ancient wisdom. ~ Rebecca Adamson

Our journey is one of discovery on Sicily.
Like the past Greek writers.orators,historians and philosophers we are all searching for answers on Earth ~ Daniel Peter Buckley

Looking deeply into the wrong perceptions, ideas, and notions that are at the base of our suffering is the most important practice in Buddhist meditation. ~ Nhat Hanh

In ancient Greece, politics and the market were not decoupled. ~ George Papandreou

If you want to experience the unalloyed ecstasy of life, you can accomplish this through the twin Buddhist practices of meditation and mindfulness. ~ Frederick Lenz

I am a reformed Catholic. I'm a Buddhist in other words. ~ George Sanders

If science proves facts that conflict with Buddhist understanding, Buddhism must change accordingly. We should always adopt a view that accords with the facts. ~ Dalai Lama

I wouldn't consider myself a Buddhist or a card-carrying zealot at all. My first commitment is as a scientist to uncover the truth about all this. ~ Richard Davidson

As I apprehend the Buddhist doctrine of karma, I agree in principle with that. ~ William James

The spirituality of the sun was, for thousands of years, the dominant religion of the ancient world. If you trace it far back enough, its origin stretches well beyond recorded history into the most ancient sacred texts, and from there, into the most ancient of myths and legends. ~ Belsebuub

Shambhala is a Buddhist tradition with its own unique view and approach. ~ Sakyong Mipham

Buddha was not a Christian, but Jesus would have made a good Buddhist. ~ Ray Wylie Hubbard

Today in Sri Lanka, Pope Francis visited a Buddhist temple. When asked why, the Pope said, 'Just keeping my options open. It's a dicey job market. You never know.' ~ Conan O'Brien

Let ancient times delight other folk, I rejoice that I was not born till now. ~ Ovid

When the injured humerus is accompanied by a serious rupture of the overlying soft tissue the injury is regarded as fatal. ~ James Henry Breasted

Most people think that an enlightened Buddhist Teacher is a fireman; His job is to put the fire out so that you can live in your home safely. But seeker beware! A fully enlightened Buddhist teacher is an arsonist! His job is to set your spirit on fire ... by feeding the flames of your soul with love. ~ Frederick Lenz

Even gods decay. Like, in 1890 somebody sold off thousands of mummified Ancient Egyptian sacred cats - _for fertilizer_. Get the point? Constancy isn't. ~ Jonathan Gash

My idea for a Buddhist video game: No guns. Self-immolate instead. Get reincarnated. Repeat until you find Nirvana. Takes forever to play. ~ Dan Spencer

I see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity ... I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I can. ~ Thomas Merton

By practicing Buddhist Yoga, you can become happy, ecstatic and free in your current incarnation, even if you have never been that way before in any of your past lives. ~ Frederick Lenz

Originally, I was interested in athletic pursuits like snowboarding, martial arts and surfing. When I went to the Himalayas and met a number of Buddhist monks I was introduced to a new way of looking at life. ~ Frederick Lenz

We have made a great effort to maintain all levels of Buddhist education; it has helped us have a kind of renaissance, really. ~ Dalai Lama

Should one point out that from ancient times decline in courage has been considered the beginning of the end? ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Ultimately one must abandon the path to enlightenment. If you still define yourself as a Buddhist, you are not a buddha yet. ~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche

Hercules, huh?" Percy frowned. "That guy was like the Starbucks of Ancient Greece. Everywhere you turn - there he is. ~ Rick Riordan

Buddhist monks have known for centuries that meditation can change the mind. Now we are inspired by His Holiness to examine with our technology the precise brain changes that occur with practice ... The unique collaboration on meditation is just beginning. ~ Richard Davidson

Today, due to the massive Chinese population transfer, the nation of Tibet truly faces the threat of extinction, along with its unique cultural heritage of Buddhist spirituality. ~ Dalai Lama

Many people, including Buddhist monks, spend thousands of hours sitting in what they call meditation. In reality, what they're doing is thinking and ruminating upon their problems. ~ Frederick Lenz

We extol ancient things, regardless of our own times.
[Lat., Vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi.] ~ Tacitus

The Buddhist message is a message not of the negation of life, but one of affirmation. ~ Frederick Lenz

According to Buddhist scriptures, compassion is the "quivering of the pure heart" when we have allowed ourselves to be touched by the pain of life. ~ Jack Kornfield

As my Buddhist teachers have shown me, wisdom emerges in the space around words as much as from language itself. ~ Mark Epstein

In 1993, I retired from the Art Ensemble of Chicago to devote myself full time to Buddhist studies and to the practice of Aikido. ~ Joseph Jarman

The role of the Buddhist teacher is to explain your options and to show you what creates karma. All our discussions are basically karmic until you're fully engaged in samadhi. ~ Frederick Lenz

It is ironic that Mr. Berger learned of this espionage in exactly the same month that Mr. Gore was attending his now famous fund-raiser with Buddhist nuns in Southern California. ~ Lamar Alexander

The form language used by the ancient Egyptians in their structures is minimal. ~ Harry Seidler

Because my main concern is the Tibetan Buddhist culture, not just political independence, I cannot seek self-rule for central Tibet and exclude the 4 million Tibetans in our two eastern provinces of Amdo and Kham. ~ Dalai Lama

We travel to ancient times by reading history books. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Well neither of us were "Buddhists" then because it was new to us. We were 60's people. Psychedelic relics, you know ... whatever, right on, radicals and world changers, social peaceniks perhaps, with a Buddhist spiritual veneer. ~ Surya Das

It is the Buddhist belief that at every moment the universe is not only dying but being reborn. ~ Frederick Lenz

It is better to do nothing Than to do what is wrong. For whatever you do, you do to yourself. ~ Gautama Buddha

Don't use Buddhism to become a Buddhist. Use Buddhism to become better at whatever else in your life you are doing already. ~ Dalai Lama

We need modern ideas, but we also need ancient wisdom. If we deny ancient wisdom we are making a big mistake. ~ Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

The three elements of creativity are thus: loving, knowing, and doing - or heart, mind, and hands - or, as Zen Buddhist teaching has it; great faith, great question, and great courage. ~ Eric Maisel

The Artist started painting the Ancient Fire, inhaling the wine in search of philosophical beginnings… ~ Talismanist Giebra

He led quite a great life, ... He was an Old Testament figure railing against the establishment - a Jewish guy from New York who became a Buddhist, a poet, a musician. ~ Tom Hayden

To be a good Zen Buddhist it is not enough to follow the teaching of its founder; we have to experience the Buddha's experience. ~ D.T. Suzuki

Although I'm not Christian, I was raised Christian. I'm an atheist, with a slight Buddhist leaning. I've got a very strong sense of morality. ~ Rachel Griffiths

Social media is like ancient Egypt: writing things on walls and worshiping cats. ~ George Takei

I believe forgiveness is possible for everybody, for everything, but I'm a Buddhist. ~ Alan Ball

As a Buddhist, I see no distinction between religious practice and daily life. Religious practice is a twenty-four hour occupation. ~ Dalai Lama XIV

The ancient world was fairly modern for its time. ~ Anthony T. Hincks

If a man going down into a river, swollen and swiftly flowing, is carried away by the current - how can he help others across? ~ Gautama Buddha

Dada is not modern at all, it is rather a return to a quasi-Buddhist religion of indifference. Dada puts an artificial sweetness onto things, a snow of butterflies coming out of a conjurer's skull. Dada is stillness and does not understand the passions. ~ Tristan Tzara

A Buddhist is working not just to get paid, but working to advance spiritually. You shouldn't create a syntactical break in your mind between your career and your religious practice. ~ Frederick Lenz

Buddhism is in your heart. Even if you don't have any temple or any monks, you can still be a Buddhist in your heart and life. ~ Nhat Hanh

By god the Buddhist means that from which the universe was born, the unborn of the Buddhist scriptures, and by soul that factor in the thing called man which moves towards enlightenment. Why need more be said of it, at any rate those who are not content with scholarship, but strive to attain that same enlightenment? ~ Christmas Humphreys

The Christian pities men because they are dying, and the Buddhist pities them because they are living. The Christian is sorry for what damages the life of a man; but the Buddhist is sorry for him because he is alive. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

A little part of my life is built around ancient art. ~ Michael Steinhardt

I am a Buddhist, therefore I should not be collecting anything - however, I have a collection of Buddhas. I have a lot of them. ~ Eric Ripert

Short isolated sentences were the mode in which ancient Wisdom delighted to convey its precepts, for the regulation of life and manners. ~ William Warburton