Buddhism Quotes

Asceticism he found to be useless. It was vain to attempt to escape from the world. There is no escape from the world even for an ascetic. He realised that what is necessary is not escape from the world. What is necessary is to change the world and to make it better.

If you study carefully, you will see that Buddhism is based on reason. There is an element of flexibility inherent in it, which is not found in any other religion.

For this remains as I have already pointed out the essential difference between the two religions of decadence: Buddhism promises nothing, but actually fulfils; Christianity promises everything, but fulfils nothing.

All of us have to ensure that our future generations lead a life of peace, dignity and mutual respect. We need to sow the seeds of a conflict-free world, and in this endeavour, Buddhism and Hinduism have a great contribution.

But for me if I'm gonna read about something I'd rather read a pamphlet or the instructions to a synthesizer than a book on Buddhism.

Among all the sutras I have expounded, Lotus Sutra is the first and foremost! If you are able to uphold the Lotus Sutra, it means you are able to uphold the body of a Buddha.

Ceasing to do evil, Cultivating the good, Purifying the heart: This is the teaching of the Buddhas.

Whatever precious jewel there is in the heavenly worlds, there is nothing comparable to one who is Awakened.

The one in whom no longer exist the craving and thirst that perpetuate becoming; how could you track that Awakened one, trackless and of limitless range.

Better it is to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things.

Live with no sense of 'mine,' not forming attachment to experiences.

So long as the love, even the smallest, of man toward woman is not destroyed, so long is his mind in bondage as the calf that drinks milk is to its mother.

For one who has abandoned craving and is free from grasping, who knows languages and their interpretations, the combinations of the letters and their order before and after, this is the final birth. The one is called the Great Being, the Great Sage.

In life, we can't always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. This second arrow is optional.

Among all shravakas and pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas are the foremost. So is the Lotus Sutra; among all sutras, it is the foremost! Just as the Buddha is the King of the Law; so is the Lotus Sutra, it is the King of all Sutras!

Who leaves behind all human bonds, And has cast off the bonds of heaven, Detached from all bonds everywhere: He is the one I call a brahmin.

Let those who desire Buddhahood not train in many Dharmas but only one. Which one? Great compassion. Those with great compassion possess all the Buddha's teaching as if it were in the palm of their hand.

First, rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings, not on the words; Second, rely on the teachings, not on the personality of the teacher; Third, rely on real wisdom, not superficial interpretation; And fourth, rely on the essence of your pure Wisdom Mind, not on judgmental perceptions.

Fearless, free of craving, and without blemish, Having reached the goal and destroyed the arrows of becoming, One is in one's final body.

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