Shomyo Buddhist Quotes

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

I spend a lot of time with Buddhists. I'm not a Buddhist, but their relationship with death interests me. ~ Joan Baez

Every civilization:
Hindu, Buddhist, Confucianist, Christian, Jewish and Muslim, all of them understood that LEARNING was to make a BETTER HUMAN BEING, LEARNING was NOT to MAKE MORE MONEY;
It was to make a BETTER HUMAN BEING. ~ Hamza Yusuf

Find yourself. Be with yourself. Fail and then achieve. ~ Tsem Tulku

One who is wise and disciplined, always kind and intelligent, humble and free from pride. One like this will be praised. ~ Gautama Buddha

Alan Watts, the Buddhist scholar, proposed the existence of a mental faculty he called forgettory, which is the flip side of memory. There are times, Watts maintained, when we need to forget things, to let them slip away into the unremembered past. ~ Larry Dossey

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

According to your holy book, every single Buddhist, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, follower of various minor traditions or sects, those who do not affiliate themselves with a religious tradition and the approximately 2.74 billion humans who have never had the 'privilege' of hearing the word of your Messiah will be sentenced to eternal damnation in a lake of fire - regardless of moral standings or positive worldly accomplishments. If this sounds like a fair proposition to you, then I bite my tongue - but I honestly believe that the majority of Christians do not agree with these doctrinal assertions, and instead categorize themselves as 'Christians' out of cultural familiarity or perhaps out of complete ignorance in regards to the topic. ~ David G. McAfee

We will develop love, we will practice it, we will make it both a way and a basis ... ~ Gautama Buddha

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

If you are a Buddhist, inspire yourself by thinking of the bodhisattva. If you are a Christian, think of the Christ, who came not to be served by others but to serve them in joy, in peace, and in generosity. For these things, these are not mere words, but acts, which go all the way, right up to their last breath. Even their death is a gift, and resurrection is born from this kind of death. (157) ~ Jean-Yves Leloup

Do not be selfish and feel new people will take more of the teacher's attention and you won't get it. That's nonsense. With that attitude, you won't get it. The teacher sees that attitude and will have very little to do with you. ~ Frederick Lenz

Just as gold is burnt, cut and rubbed, Examine my words carefully and Do not accept them simply out of respect ~ Gautama Buddha

Reincarnation is not an exclusively Hindu or Buddhist concept, but it is part of the history of human origin. It is proof of the mindstream's capacity to retain knowledge of physical and mental activities. It is related to the theory of interdependent origination and to the law of cause and effect. ~ Dalai Lama

My experience with forgiveness is that it sort of comes spontaneously at a certain point and to try to force it it's not really forgiveness. It's Buddhist philosophy or something spiritual jargon that you're trying to live up to but you're just using it against yourself as a reason why you're not okay. ~ Pema Chodron

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

I've heard a Buddhist monk suggest the number of food-caused deaths is minimized in steak dinners, which share one death over many meals, whereas the equation is reversed for a bowl of clams. ~ Barbara Kingsolver

In the Buddhist scriptures, it said many births cause suffering, so Buddhism is not against family planning. ~ Mechai Viravaidya

The pathway to enlightenment is beautiful. There are a lot of wonderful things that happen along the way. Win or lose, you just keep going, and it happens eventually. ~ Frederick Lenz

Those who would be employed in propagating the Gospel should be familiar with the doctrines he is to combat and the doctrines he is to teach, and acquire a complete knowledge both of the Sacred Scriptures and of these philosophical and mythological dogmas which form the souls of the Buddhist and Hindu Systems. ~ William Carey

I think that whatever we encounter in life, we want to encourage a balance between the mind and the soul ... and that is to consider about 50% data from the mind and 50% data from the soul. This is what Buddhists call, "the middle way." ~ Neale Donald Walsch

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

If you find no one to support you on the spiritual path, walk alone. There is no companionship with the immature. ~ Gautama Buddha

We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love. ~ Nhat Hanh

Let all-embracing thoughts for all beings be yours. ~ Gautama Buddha

Suttas are not meant to be 'sacred scriptures' that tell us what to believe. One should read them, listen to them, think about them, contemplate them, and investigate the present reality, the present experience with them. Then, and only then, can one insightfully know the truth beyond words. ~ Ajahn Sumedho

I knew that most people never see this reality because they attach to the material aspect of the world. Illusions of self and other fill their vision. I also realized there are those with little dust limiting their vision. ~ 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

With mountain biking, it's always that constant thing, negotiating singletrack, which I like, but for a road ride that rhythm is really Buddhist. When you get a good pedal stoke, it's that thing of everything works. ~ Robin Williams

Don't care what anybody says about enlightenment, except the enlightened and those who seek it. ~ Frederick Lenz

How do you become enlightened? Have fun, meditate, don't take yourself too seriously, brush between incarnations and have a good teacher. ~ Frederick Lenz

A brahmin once asked The Blessed One: "Are you a God?" "No, brahmin" said The Blessed One. "Are you a saint?" "No, brahmin" said The Blessed One. "Are you a magician?" "No, brahmin" said The Blessed One. "What are you then?" "I am awake." ~ Gautama Buddha

One day Mara, the Buddhist god of ignorance and evil, was traveling through the villages of India with his attendants. He saw a man doing walking meditation whose face was lit up in wonder. The man had just discovered something on the ground in front of him. Mara's attendants asked what that was and Mara replied, "A piece of truth." "Doesn't this bother you when someone finds a piece of the truth, O evil one?" his attendants asked. "No," Mara replied. "Right after this they usually make a belief out of it." ~ Jack Kornfield

People who truly follow the Way would do well to conceal the fact that they are Buddhists. ~ Dogen

Write what you know," my ass. Now, I'm not suggesting that you write about my ass. But although you do not, in fact, know my ass, I give you permission to write about it. And if you think you need my permission to write about my ass ("What right do I have, as a male, twenty-something, single, childfree, immigrant Indonesian Buddhist, to pretend to understand the ass of an Anglo American middle-aged married female Freethinker?") or about anything, then you lack the courage, curiosity and imagination to write good fiction, so please find something else to do. ~ Robyn Parnell

Do as well as you possibly can. That's Buddhist morality. ~ Brad Warner

Studying with a teacher doesn't simply mean going to an occasional seminar or Zen retreat. It means fully applying yourself to what the teacher says, most of which is not verbal. ~ Frederick Lenz

He who walks in the company of fools suffers much. Company with fools, as with an enemy, is always painful. Company with the wise is pleasure, like meeting with kinfolk. ~ Gautama Buddha

Come, live with the doors of the senses guarded, diligent and mindful, vigilant and mindful, with the ways of the mind well watched, possessed of a mind that is awake and observing. ~ Gautama Buddha

Western Buddhists in many ways are much serious Buddhists than Tibetans are. ~ Richard Gere

I get up at sunrise. I'm a Buddhist, so I chant in the morning. My wife and I sit and have coffee together, but then it's list-making time. I have carpentry projects. We have roads we keep in repair. It's not back-breaking, but it's certainly aerobic and mildly strenuous. ~ Patrick Duffy