The calmed say that what is well-spoken is best; second, that one should say what is right, not unrighteous; third, what's pleasing, not displeasing; fourth, what is true, not false.
There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. There will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.
With no mind, flowers lure the butterfly; With no mind, the butterfly visits the blossoms. Yet when flowers bloom, the butterfly comes; When the butterfly comes, the flowers bloom.
Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.
The wind cannot overturn a mountain. Temptation cannot touch the man Who is awake, strong and humble, Who masters hiself and minds the law.
Being humble doesn't mean you lose; it means you have won. Give the victory to others.
The first beneficiary of compassion is always oneself. When compassion, or warmheartedness, arises in us and our focus shifts away from our own narrow self-interest, it is as if we open an inner door. It reduces fear, boosts confidence and brings us inner strength. By reducing distrust, it opens us to others and brings us a sense of connection to others, and sense of purpose and meaning in life.
Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. What you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing.
If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
Well neither of us were "Buddhists" then because it was new to us. We were 60's people. Psychedelic relics, you know. . . whatever, right on, radicals and world changers, social peaceniks perhaps, with a Buddhist spiritual veneer.
A fool acquires knowledge only to his own disadvantage. It destroys what good he has, and turns his brains.
If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love.
When Buddhists say, "A bodhisattva fears not the result, but only the cause," they mean that we must expend the bulk of our energy planting good roots today, rather than fretting about the plants that are already growing from the roots we planted in the past.
To an experienced Zen Buddhist, asking if one believes in Zen or one believes in the Buddha, sounds a little ludicrous, like asking if one believes in air or water. Similarly Quality is not something you believe in, Quality is something you experience.
If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.
From craving is born grief, from craving is born fear. For one freed from craving there's no grief- so how fear?
The essence of love and compassion is understanding, the ability to recognize the physical, material, and psychological suffering of others, to put ourselves "inside the skin" of the other. We "go inside" their body, feelings, and mental formations, and witness for ourselves their suffering. Shallow observation as an outsider is not enough to see their suffering. We must become one with the subject of our observation. When we are in contact with another's suffering, a feeling of compassion is born in us. Compassion means, literally, "to suffer with. "
When one is overcome by this wretched, clinging desire in the world, one's sorrows increase like grass growing up after a lot of rain.
Every morning when I wake up, I dedicate myself to helping others to find peace of mind. Then, when I meet people, I think of them as long term friends; I don't regard others as strangers.
I certainly haven't lived the life of a Buddhist monk.