Gotama Buddha Quotes

Human desires are the main cause of suffering ~ Siddhattha Gotama Buddha

The joy of life is in new creations, new adventures, and new feelings. ~ Debasish Mridha

But I will tell you in all honesty that there is no Deity or Messiah, no Jesus or Muhammad, no angel or mythical spirit who can save you. Not even Buddha can save you, even if he or any of the other spirits wished it with all of their might, for your only salvation, if there is any, lies within you and you alone. Each of us has the potential for good as well as evil; it is whatever circumstances we find ourselves in and what choices we make in life which really takes us down one or the other path. ~ Andrew James Pritchard

Love. Buddha nature. Courage. These are code words for things we don't know in our minds, but any of us could experience them. These are words that point to what life really is when we let things fall apart and let ourselves be nailed to the present moment. ~ Pema Chodron

Seeker, empty the boat, lighten the load, be free of craving and judgment and hatred, and feel the joy of the way. ~ Gautama Buddha

I have passed in ignorance through a cycle of many rebirths, seeking the builder of the house. Continuous rebirth is a painful thing. But now, housebuilder, I have found you out. You will not build me a house again. All your rafters are broken, your ridge-pole shattered. My mind is free from active thought, and has made an end of craving. ~ Gautama Buddha

KODO SAWAKI ~ To practice the buddha way is not to let our minds wander but to become one with what we're doing. This is called zanmai (or samadhi) and shikan (or "just doing"). Eating rice isn't preparation for shitting; shitting isn't preparation for making manure. And yet these days people think that high school is preparation for college and college is preparation for a good job. ~ Kosho Uchiyama

He was lonely. I could see that. He was working his butt off-and mine, too-in the hope that a million rupees might sort out his sex life. I prayed to Buddha he would be successful. If he didn't get some action soon, I doubted I would, either. ~ Frank Kusy

Opinion, O disciples, is a disease; opinion is a tumour; opinion is a sore. He who has overcome all opinion, O disciples, is called a saint, one who knows. ~ Gautama Buddha

To find Buddha, you have to see your nature. Whoever sees his nature is a Buddha. If you don't see your nature, invoking buddhas, reciting sutras, making offerings, and keeping precepts are all useless. Invoking buddhas results in good karma, reciting sutras results in a good memory, keeping precepts results in good rebirth, and making offerings results in future blessings-but no Buddha. ~ Bodhidharma

You may have seen people praying to an image as if it had special power. Perhaps they're wishing for the well-being of their family, for material prosperity, or to recover from illness. But this way of practicing faith only leads to a dead end. Buddha images should serve as inspirations to cultivate the infinite loving kindness latent in the buddha within us. ~ Shinjo Ito

I clean this teapot with the kind of attention I would have were I giving the baby Buddha or Jesus a bath. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

May I hold myself in compassion.
May I meet the suffering and ignorance of others with compassion. ~ Gautama Buddha

Did you know that according to legend, the guy who became Buddha decided to seek enlightenment the day he got a touch of gray? "Gray hairs," the would-be Buddha said, "are like angels sent by the god of death". ~ Anderson Cooper

Live in this world, because this world gives a ripening, maturity, integrity. The challenges of this world give you a centering, an awareness. And that awareness becomes the ladder. Then you can move from Zorba to Buddha. ~ Rajneesh

The real currency of life is not money but love. Real success comes not from earning but from giving. ~ Debasish Mridha

In each of us is the stuff of what the universe is made of.
It's called LIFE. ~ Anthony T. Hincks

Hatreds never cease by hatreds in this world. By love alone they cease. This is an ancient Law. ~ Gautama Buddha

'As I am, so are these. As are these, so am I.' Drawing the parallel to yourself, neither kill nor get others to kill. ~ Gautama Buddha

What you have become is the result of what you have thought ~ Gautama Buddha

So it is with the mind, Nandini. Allow it to be in balance. Avoid extremes: the middle way is better. Neither force the mind too hard into concentration nor let it wander aimlessly. Meditation is to pay attention, to be aware of your breathing, your posture, your feelings, your perceptions, your thoughts, and all that passes through your mind and the mind itself; whatever is going on within you and between you and the universe. Meditation is not just sitting for an hour here or an hour there; meditation is a way of life. It is practiced all the time. There is no separation between meditation and everyday living. When you have ceased to be bound by the past or by the future, when you are fully present in the here and now, then it is meditation. ~ Satish Kumar

You are as the yellow leaf.
The messengers of death are at hand.
You are to travel far away.
What will you take with you?
You are the lamp
To lighten the way.
Then hurry, hurry.
When your light shines
Without impurity or desire
You will come into the boundless country.
Your life is falling away.
Death is at hand.
Where will you rest on the way?
What have you taken with you?
You are the lamp
To lighten the way.
Then hurry, hurry.
When your light shines purely
You will not be born
And you will not die. ~ Gautama Buddha

Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide." - The Buddha The Occult (Hidden) Teachings The teachings and knowledge that appear hidden are ~ Michael Eggleston

To do a little good is more than to accomplish great conquests. ~ Gautama Buddha

Your Soul is the place within you that is timeless, ageless, and eternal: it is the ultimate core and essence of who you truly are. ~ Mateo Sol

Religion is a cow. It gives milk, but it also kicks. ~ Gautama Buddha

When people suffer, their relationships usually suffer as well. Period. And we all suffer because, as the Buddha says, that's the nature of being human and wanting stuff we don't always get. ~ Mary Karr

O Brahmana, it is just like a mountain river, flowing far and swift, taking everything along with it; there is no moment, no instant, no second when it stops flowing, but goes on flowing and continuing. So Brahmana, is human life, like a mountain river." As Buddha told Ratthpala : "The world is a continuous flux and is impermanent. ~ Walpola Ruhula

Love is a fleeting emotion, to reach true nirvana one must know themselves and forsake love, for it breeds contempt. ~ Gautama Buddha

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. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

I meditate in the morning, and my daughter will do it with me, looking like the most perfect little Buddha. I'll do ten minutes of yoga, then two to ten minutes of meditation. She'll sit there quietly half the time. ~ Alysia Reiner

Happy are those who have overcome their egos; happy are those who have attained peace; happy are those who have found the Truth. ~ Gautama Buddha

The Tathagatha ... is the originator of the path unarisen before, the producer of the path unproduced before, the declarer of the path undeclared before. He is the knower of the path, the discoverer of the path, the one skilled in the path. And his disciplines now dwell following that path and become possessed of it afterwards. ~ Gautama Buddha

Plantie is a very strong Protestant, that is to say, he's against all churches, especially the Protestant: and he thinks a lot of Buddha, Karma and Confucius. He is also a bit of an anarchist and three or four years ago he took up Einstein and vitamins. ~ Joyce Cary

After 48 years, I have said nothing. ~ Gautama Buddha

Mindfulness of the body leads to nirvana. ~ Gautama Buddha

Are you feeling helpless when you think about the dark roads of the future? Then read the biographies of the great men! Learn their life stories; they will lead you to the light! Buddha will lead you to the light; Gandhi will lead you to the light! Men of wider horizons will broaden our own horizons! ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

An evil deed, like fresh milk, does not go bad suddenly. Smouldering, like fire covered by ashes, the evil deed follows the fool. ~ Gautama Buddha

Laughter is spiritual health. And laughter is very unburdening. While you laugh, you can put your mind aside very easily. For a man who cannot laugh the doors of the buddha are closed. To me, laughter is one of the greatest values. No religion has ever thought about it. They have always been insisting on seriousness, and because of their insistence the whole world is psychologically sick. ~ Rajneesh

Observe the life by cause and consequence. Explore the life by wisdom. Treat the life by equality. Complete the life by love. ~ Gautama Buddha