Misattributed Buddha Quotes

Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these. ~ Lloyd Shearer

He who, seeking his own happiness, punishes or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not find happiness after his death. ~ Gautama Buddha

Be it known that Men of dull faculties and slight wisdom, They who cling proudly to signs, Cannot believe in this Dharma. Now I, joyfully and fearlessly, In the midst of the bodhisattvas Frankly casting aside my expedient devices, Merely preach the Unexcelled Path. ~ Gautama Buddha

This is my fundamental teaching: that there is no division between this and that. That is contained in this, the other shore is contained in this shore. You need not go anywhere. If you can be joyous, flowing, alive, sensitive, orgasmic, this very shore immediately is transformed into the other shore ... this very world the paradise, this very body the Buddha. ~ Osho

Fill your mind with compassion. ~ Gautama Buddha

What name shall we give it which hath no name, the common eternal matter of the mind? If we were to call it essence, some might think it meant perfume, or gold, or honey. It is not even mind. It is not even discussible, groupable into words; it is not even endless, in fact it is not even mysterious or inscrutably inexplicable; it is what is; it is that; it is this. We could easily call the golden eternity "This." But "what's in a name?" asked Shakespeare. The golden eternity by another name would be as sweet. A Tathagata, a God, a Buddha by
another name, an Allah, a Sri Krishna, a Coyote, a Brahma, a Mazda, a Messiah, an Amida, an Aremedeia, a Maitreya, a Palalakonuh, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 would be as sweet. The golden eternity is X, the golden eternity is A, the golden eternity is /, the golden eternity is O, the golden eternity is [ ], the golden eternity is t-h-e-g-o-l-d-e-n-e-t-e-r-n-i-t-y. In the beginning was the word; before the beginning, in the beginningless infinite neverendingness, was the essence. Both the word "god" and the essence of the word, are emptiness. The form of emptiness which is emptiness having taken the form of form, is what you see and hear and feel right now, and what you taste and smell and think as you read this. Wait awhile, close your eyes, let your breathing stop three seconds or so, listen to the inside silence in the womb of the world, let your hands and nerve-ends drop, re-recognize the bliss you forgot, the emptiness and essence and ecstas ~ Jack Kerouac

I would say that Jesus Christ and his followers were a cult, Buddha and his followers were a cult and Mohammed and his followers were a cult. Every religion starts out as a cult and if it becomes 'box office', it is accepted. ~ Frederick Lenz

After much seeking for truth and knowledge the profoundness of reality came to me with a clarity never before known. ~ Gautama Buddha

take Buddha. The central idea [is] sacrifice. ~ Swami Vivekananda

To keep the body in good health is a duty ... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear. ~ Buddha

Buddha, Confucius, or Socrates can bring us good teaching, moral excellence, and religious philosophy. For this they may be commended as rendering help and aid to humanity. But Jesus Christ is different: He brings us Himself as our Life. ~ Chip Brogden

Like Buddha under the Bo tree, Jesus, on his tree, has his eyes closed too. The difference is this. The pain and sadness of the world that Buddha's eyes close out is the pain and sadness of the world that the eyes of Jesus close in. ~ Frederick Buechner

Whatever suffering there is in this world,all arises from desiring only myself to be happy.And whatever joy there is in this world,all arises from desiring to share my happiness with everyone. ~ Gautama Buddha

When wishes are few, the heart is happy. When craving ends, there is peace. ~ Gautama Buddha

Mindfulness, as defined by the Buddha, means awareness of incessant change, of arising and vanishing, inside of your own body, which is the ultimate reality of your own life. ~ Paul Fleischman

In the light of his vision that is the perspective that allows him to be grateful that things are not worse he has found his freedom and joy: his thoughts are peace, his words are peace and his work is peace. ~ Gautama Buddha

When the Buddha gave a talk to a large gathering of businessmen, the core of his message to them was, "It is possible to live happily right in the present moment. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

I manifested in a dreamlike way to dreamlike beings and gave a dreamlike Dharma, but in reality I never taught and never actually came. ~ Gautama Buddha

Life at home is cramped and dirty, it is difficult to live a spiritual life completely, perfect and pure in all its parts while cabinned. ~ Gautama Buddha

If a man's thoughts are muddy, If he is reckless and full of deceit, How can he wear the yellow robe? Whoever is master of his own nature, Bright, clear and true, He may indeed wear the yellow robe. ~ Gautama Buddha

The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground. ~ Buddha

Apprentices Needed, Not Disciples
For many, the knowledge of a Jesus, a Lao-tzu, a Buddha, or a Gandhi is complete and unassailable. But we do them and their vision a disservice when we follow them rather than using what they have taught to build upon as we strive toward our goal of a better society. ~ William Coperthwaite

If I had even a slight awareness, and practiced the Great Way, what I would fear would be deviating from it. ~ Gautama Buddha

I will teach you the Truth and the Path leading to the Truth. ~ Gautama Buddha

Beings are owners of their action, heirs of their action. ~ Gautama Buddha

A loving heart blooms like a flower that attracts all the beauty and light of life. ~ Debasish Mridha

Ignorance, vulnerability, fear, anger, and desire are expressions of the infinite potential of your buddha nature. There's nothing inherently wrong or right with making such choices. The fruit of Buddhist practice is simply the recognition that these and other mental afflictions are nothing more or less than choices available to us because our real nature is infinite in scope. ~ Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

Your days pass like rainbows, like a flash of lightning, like a star at dawn. Your life is short. How can you quarrel? ~ Gautama Buddha

If dresses would have qualified people, then whores would have ruled the world. ~ Gautama Buddha

He is able who thinks he is able. ~ Lord Buddha

The pure present is an ungraspable advance of the past devouring the future. In truth, all sensation is already memory. ~ Henri Bergson

If a man's mind becomes pure, his surroundings will also become pure. ~ Gautama Buddha

The Buddha is like space, with no inherent nature; appearing in the world to benefit the living, his features and refinements are like reflections. ~ Thomas Cleary

If the traveller can find A virtuous and wise companion Let him go with him joyfully And overcome the dangers of the way. But if you cannot find Friend or master to go with you, Travel on alone. ~ Gautama Buddha

Be judgmental to yourself, but be kind and non-judgmental to others. ~ Debasish Mridha

Open-minded people tend to be interested in Buddhism because Buddha urged people to investigate things - he didn't just command them to believe. ~ Dalai Lama

When we sit in meditation, we are closer than usual to the world as it is. By simply bringing body, breath, and mind together in the present moment, we touch Buddha; we touch reality, and we are in the world as it is. Most people's experience in this state is peaceful and rejuvenating. ~ Andrew Furst

Live like a mighty river. ~ Gautama Buddha

Seek not revenge, but the Buddha. ~ Neil Gaiman

Holding on to anger is like poisoning yourself and hoping someone else will die. ~ Gautama Buddha

Besides the respect of the lives of human beings, all the animals and plants should be on the list too. That is the real humanitarianism. ~ Gautama Buddha

The only way to bring peace to the earth is to learn to make our own life peaceful. ~ Gautama Buddha

How long the night to the watchman, How long the road to the weary traveller, How long the wandering of many lives To the fool who misses the way. ~ Gautama Buddha

Doing the good deeds is like the grass in the garden. You don't see its growth. But, it does by days. Doing the wicked deeds is like the hone. You don't see its damage. But, it does by days. ~ Gautama Buddha