Gautama Buddha

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.

In the end
these things matter most:
How well did you love?
How fully did you live?
How deeply did you let go?

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. If a man speak or act with an evil thought, suffering follows him as the wheel follows the hoof of the beast that draws the wagon.... If a man speak or act with a good thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

You only lose what you cling to.

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

Peace comes from within.  Do not seek it without.

Three things can not hide for long: the Moon, the Sun and the Truth.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

Doubt everything. Find your own light.

Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path.

Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.

If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another.

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

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving and fearless then he is in truth called wise.

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

What we think, we become.

You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.

The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.

Pain is certain, suffering is optional.

Words do not express thoughts very well; every thing immediately becomes a little different, a little distorted, a little foolish. And yet it also pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom of one man seems nonsense to another.

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.

Do not look for a sanctuary in anyone except your self.

Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.

The tongue like a sharp knife... Kills without drawing blood.

As rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, do not burden your heart with judgements but rain your kindness equally on all.

Meditate.
Live purely. Be quiet.
Do your work with mastery.
Like the moon, come out
from behind the clouds!
Shine.

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

Rage is a powerful energy that with diligent practice can be transformed into fierce compassion. However much we disagree with our enemies, our task is to identify with them. They too feel justified in their point of view.

Nothing can harm you as much as your own thoughts unguarded.

Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again, and you will be filled with joy.

Purity or impurity depends on oneself,
No one can purify another.

If we fail to look after others when they need help, who will look after us?

The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There's only one moment for you to live, and that is the present moment.

A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.

With our thoughts we make the world.

As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise you will miss most of your life.

Conquer anger by love, evil by good; conquer the miser with liberality, and the liar with truth.

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed.

Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.

Even as a solid rock is unshaken by the wind, so are the wise unshaken by praise or blame.

Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to others.

Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.

Those who have failed to work toward the truth have missed the purpose of living.

Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them all.

Attachment leads to suffering.

Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

You throw thorns, falling in my silence they become flowers.

She who knows life flows, feels no wear or tear, needs no mending or repair.

Kindness should become the natural way of life, not the exception.

Wear your ego like a loose fitting garment.

In separateness lies the world's greatest misery; in compassion lies the world's true strength.

You are the community now. Be a lamp for yourselves. Be your own refuge. Seek for no other. All things must pass. Strive on diligently. Don’t give up.

a dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. a man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.

The greatest prayer is patience.

When you come upon a path
that brings benefit
and happiness to all,
follow this course
as the moon
journeys through the stars.

A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden.

friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee of peace.

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.

May all that have life be delivered from suffering.

When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.

“If a traveler does not meet with one who is his better, or his equal, let him firmly keep to his solitary journey; there is no companionship with a fool.

If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.

True love is born from understanding.

He is able who thinks he is able.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

There are no chains like hate...dwelling on your brother's faults multiplies your own. You are far from the end of your journey.

To force oneself to believe and to accept a thing without understanding is political, and not spiritual or intellectual.

The one who has conquered himself is a far greater hero than he who has defeated a thousand times a thousand men.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.

Be a lamp unto yourself. Work out your liberation with diligence.

What you are is what you have been. What you'll be is what you do now.

There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.

People with opinions just go around bothering one another.

Those who attempt to conquer hatred by hatred are like warriors who take weapons to overcome others who bear arms. This does not end hatred, but gives it room to grow. But, ancient wisdom has advocated a different timeless strategy to overcome hatred. This eternal wisdom is to meet hatred with non-hatred. The method of trying to conquer hatred through hatred never succeeds in overcoming hatred. But, the method of overcoming hatred through non-hatred is eternally effective. That is why that method is described as eternal wisdom.

There isn't enough darkness in all the world to snuff out the light of one little candle.

To insist on a spiritual practice that served you in the past is to carry the raft on your back after you have crossed the river.

Remembering a wrong is like carrying a burden on the mind.

It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.

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

More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an undisciplined mind does greater harm.

Life is a river always flowing. do not hold onto things. work hard.

He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.

How wonderful! How wonderful! All things are perfect, exactly as they are.

Be greatly aware of the present.

Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind.

Greed is an imperfection that defiles the mind; hate is an imperfection that defiles the mind; delusion is an imperfection that defiles the mind.

The trouble is, you think you have time.

If you propose to speak always ask yourself, is it true, is it necessary, is it kind.

All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.

Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.

Be where you are; otherwise you will miss your life.

Silence the angry man with love. Silence the ill-natured man with kindness. Silence the miser with generosity. Silence the liar with truth.

To understand everything is to forgive everything.

All descriptions of reality are temporary hypotheses.

It is better to travel, than to arrive.

The Gift of Truth excels all other Gifts.

There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind.

Few among men are they who cross to the further shore. The others merely run up and down the bank on this side.

Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.

Though one should live a hundred years without wisdom and control, yet better, indeed, is a single day’s life of one who is wise and meditative.

Learn this from water: loud splashes the brook but the oceans depth are calm.

Wakefulness is the way to life.
The fool sleeps
As if he were already dead,
But the Master is awake
And he lives forever.

He watches.
He is clear.

How happy he is!
For he sees that wakefulness is life.
How happy he is,
Following the path of the awakened.

With Great perseverance
He meditates, seeking
Freedom and happiness.

The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demands for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life activity; it affords protection to all beings, offering shade even to the ax-man who destroys it.

The Way is not in the sky; the Way is in the heart.

Be vigilant; guard your mind against negative thoughts.

Most problems, if you give them enough time and space, will eventually wear themselves out.

Generosity brings happiness at every stage of its expression. We experience joy in forming the intention to be generous. We experience joy in the actual act of giving something. And we experience joy in remembering the fact that we have given.

I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

Whoever sees me sees the teaching, and whoever sees the teaching sees me.

The non-doing of any evil,
the performance of what's skillful,
the cleansing of one's own mind:
this is the teaching of the Awakened.

The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.

Following the Noble Path is like entering a dark room with a light in the hand; the darkness will all be cleared away, and the room will be filled with light.

He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.

‎Imagine that every person in the world is enlightened but you. They are all your teachers, each doing just the right things to help you learn perfect patience, perfect wisdom, perfect compassion.”

One moment can change a day, one day can change a life and one life can change the world.

Contentment is the greatest wealth

Victory breeds hatred. The defeated live in pain. Happily the peaceful live,
giving up victory and defeat.

The virtuous man delights in this world and he delights in the next.

Ennui has made more gamblers than avarice, more drunkards than thirst, and perhaps as many suicides as despair.

From a withered tree, a flower blooms.

Awake. Be the witness of your thoughts. You are what observes, not what you observe.

If the selflessness of phenomena is analyzed and if this analysis is cultivated, it causes the effect of attaining nirvana. Through no other cause does one come to peace.

Look not to the faults of others, nor to their omissions and commissions. But rather look to your own acts, to what you have done and left undone.

If it is not truthful and not helpful, don't say it.
If it is truthful and not helpful, don't say it.
If it is not truthful yet helpful, don't say it.
If it is truthful and helpful, wait for the right time.

Therefore, be ye lamps unto yourselves, be a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone beside yourselves. And those, who shall be a lamp unto themselves, shall betake themselves to no external refuge, but holding fast to the Truth as their lamp, and holding fast to the Truth as their refuge, they shall reach the topmost height.

Those which arise dependently are free of inherent existence.

All phenomena do not inherently exist because of being dependent-arisings. All phenomena do not inherently exist because of being dependently imputed.

Resolutely train yourself to attain peace.

As a flower that is lovely and beautiful, but is scentless, even so fruitless is the well-spoken word of one who practices it not.

In this world
Hate never yet dispelled hate
Only love dispels hate
This is the law
Ancient and inexhaustible
You too shall pass away
Knowing this, how can you quarrel?

The teaching is simple. Do what is right. Be Pure.

Our theories of the eternal are as valuable as are those that a chick which has not broken its way through its shell might form of the outside world.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

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

I consider the positions of kings and rulers as that of dust motes. I observe treasure of gold and gems as so many bricks and pebbles. I look upon the finest silken robes as tattered rags. I see myriad worlds of the universe as small seeds of fruit, and the greatest lake in India as a drop of oil on my foot. I perceive the teachings of the world to be the illusion of, magicians. I discern the highest conception of emancipation as golden brocade in a dream, and view the holy path of the illuminated one as flowers appearing in one's eyes. I see meditation as a pillar of a mountain, Nirvana as a nightmare of daytime. I look upon the judgment of right and wrong as the serpentine dance of a dragon, and the rise and fall of beliefs as but traces left by the four seasons.

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain.

Pure-limbed, white-canopied, one-wheeled, the cart roles on. See him that cometh: faultless, stream-cutter, bondless he.

Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are, it solely relies on what you think.

If you are facing in the right direction, all you need to do is keep on walking.

If you knew what I know about the power of giving you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way.

What we are today comes  from our thoughts of yesterday, and present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our own mind.

The wise man makes an island of himself that no flood can overwhelm.

The ignorant man is an ox. He grows in size, not in wisdom.

Do not overlook tiny good actions, thinking they are of no benefit; even tiny drops of water in the end will fill a huge vessel. Do not overlook negative actions merely because they are small; however small a spark may be, it can burn down a haystack as big as a mountain.

How blissful it is, for one who has nothing. Attainers-of-wisdom are people with nothing. See him suffering, one who has something, a person bound in mind with people.

To life in the consciousness of the inevitability of suffering, of becoming enfeebled, of old age and of death, is impossible -- we must free ourselves from life, from all possible life.

In separateness lies the world's great misery; in compassion lies the world's true strength.

This I tell you: decay is inherent in all conditioned things. Work out your own salvation, with diligence.