Daily Buddhist Verses
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Our life is shaped by our mind; we behave what we think. Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheel of a cart follow the oxen that draws it.
Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.
~Buddha -
There is pleasure and there is bliss-
Forgo the first to possess the second.
~ Buddha -
I like to tell the story of a family that buys a new television. Compared to the old one, it is really great, and everyone watches it for days on end. But eventually they get tired of it. This indicates that the original pleasure has a nature of pain. Such states of temporary happiness are called the suffering of change.
~ The Dalai Lama -
A flower falls, even though we love it;
And a weed grows, even though we do not love it.
~ Dogen -
If you understand, things are just as they are...
If you do not understand, things are just as they are...
~ Zen saying -
Many birds were caught and put inside a cage. They were fed and had their feathers trimmed regularly. The fatty ones were picked and sent to the kitchen daily to be cooked as meals.
Among these birds, one started to think to himself: " If I eat too much, I will die because of my juicy meat; if I don't eat at all, I will die of hunger. I shall thus plan my amount of food to eat, just a little so as not to be overgrown but enough to keep my feathers smooth and strong, then I can escape from this cage."
He followed his plan and eventually his wish came true.
~A story from the sutra- Chu Yao Jing -
Notice your attachments to food, clothing, shelter, and adopt monastic practices of contentment to a layperson's life. Be satistified with adequate food, clothing, and shelter. Use the additional free time for meditation so that you can overcome more problems.
~ The Dalai Lama -
A person who accepts responsibilty for his decision is in a position to effect great change in his life while someone who continuously attributes his failures and confusion to others digs himself into a hole...
When we take responsibility for our decisions, then we give the power to change.
~ Venerable Thubten Chodron -
Many animals were living in a forest. One fateful day the forest was on fire and there was no way out except one exit route which was separated by a river. All the animals reached this dead end and couldn't do anything.
At that moment, The Great Deer immediately laid himself over the river using his front and back legs on opposite river-banks; and using his body as a bridge, one by one, the animals stepped on his back to cross the river.
The flesh on The Great Deer's back had opened up badly thus, but with a great compassion to save others, he endured the excruciating pain with all his might right till the last rabbit crossed over to safety. After that, The Great Deer's back snapped and he fell to his death into the river.
~ A story from sutra: Da Zhi Du Run -
With a good heart, compassion for others whenever a problem arises, you experience it for others, on behalf of other sentient beings. If you experience happiness, you experience it for others. If you enjoy a luxury life, comfort, you dedicate it to others. And if you experience a problem, you experience it for others - for others to be free of problems and to have happiness up to enlightenment, complete perfect peace and bliss. Wishing others to have happiness, you experience problems on their behalf.
~ Lama Zopa Rinpoche, The Joy Of Compassion -
The mind, the Buddha, living creatures-
These are not three different things.
~ Avatamasaka Sutra -
The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion.
~Mahaparinirvana Sutra -
If a person does not harm any living being,
and does not kill or cause others to kill,
that person is a true spiritual practitioner.
~ Buddha -
I'm like a fallen leaf on the surface of the water,
Flowing forward, flowing away.
Suddenly stopping, suddenly spinning.
Sometimes waves arise, submerging it.
Sometimes it is calm, but still it flows on.
Why is it like that?
Not only does the fallen leaf not understand,
the one like the fallen leaf does not understand.
Some insights are realised in the moment,
some upon hindsight.
Everything about me changes within limitlessly complex
causes and conditions.
Causes and conditions are that real,
yet that unfathomable!
~Venerable Ying shun -
The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.
~Yasutani Roshi -
We must learn to face, accept, overcome
and detach from troubles.
~ Buddha -
To be angry is to let other's mistakes punish yourself.
To forgive others is to be good to yourself.
~ Zen Master Sheng Yan -
Wow cycle, alot of nice quotes.. where did you find them from?
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Well, after telling you that I'd try to contribute to this thread, I've been speed reading all the Buddhism books, articles, magazines, websites etc, searching for interesting quotes for posting. It takes some time cos I hv to understand what I'm going to post. Most of my materials are in mandarin, so I hv a hard time translating them. Those chim ones I hv to give up, I don't want to quote wrongly.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Wow cycle, alot of nice quotes.. where did you find them from?
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Human beings act like machines whose funtion is to make money. This is absolutely wrong. The purpose of making money is the happiness of humankind, not the other way round. Humans are not for money, money is for humans. We need enough to live, so money is neccessary, but we also need to realize that if there is too much attachment to wealth, it does not help at all. As the saints of India and Tibet tell us, the wealthier one becomes, the more suffering one endures.
~ The Dalai Lama, How To Practice -
This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds.
To watch the birth and death of beings is like
looking at the movements of a dance.
A lifetime is like a flash of lightening in the sky,
rushing by, like a torrent down a steep moutain.
~Buddha -
As one lamp senses to dispel a thousand years of darkness,
so one flash of wisdom destroys ten thousand years of ignorance.
~Hui neng -
Oh I see.. thanks a lot. You're very resourceful and helpfulOriginally posted by cycle:Well, after telling you that I'd try to contribute to this thread, I've been speed reading all the Buddhism books, articles, magazines, websites etc, searching for interesting quotes for posting. It takes some time cos I hv to understand what I'm going to post. Most of my materials are in mandarin, so I hv a hard time translating them. Those chim ones I hv to give up, I don't want to quote wrongly. 
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Nah... applying the law of cause and effect, you're the one that started this useful thread and I learn a lot too while searching for materials; and hopefully the effect is everyone will get inspired by these words of wisdom.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Oh I see.. thanks a lot. You're very resourceful and helpful -
All conditioned phenomena
Are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow
like the dew, or like lightning
You should discern them like this
~ The Diamond Sutra