#buddha

The Four Noble Truths are pragmatic rather than dogmatic. They suggest a course of action to be followed rather than a set of dogmas to be believed. The four truths are prescriptions for behavior rather than descriptions of reality. The Buddha compares himself to a doctor who offers a course of therapeutic treatment to heal one’s ills. To embark on such a therapy is not designed to bring one any closer to ‘the Truth’ but to enable one’s life to flourish here and now, hopefully leaving a legacy that will continue to have beneficial repercussions after one’s death. (154) ↗

— Stephen Batchelor

#buddhism #four-noble-truths #here-and-now #truth #death

Embrace nothing: If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. If you meet your father, kill your father. Only live your life as it is, Not bound to anything. ↗

— Gautama Siddharta

#inspirational #life #life-lessons #inspirational

Someone, somewhere, needs to take courage to break the cycle of violence. Forgiveness is superior to justice. Being kind and compassionate to those who are good to you is easy. True forgiveness and compassion come only when one is able to forgive even those who have committed barbaric acts. If Angulimala is capable of renouncing violence, then tell me, your Majesty: is your civilized society also capable of being truly civilized and renouncing violence? ↗

— Satish Kumar

#compassion #forgiveness #justice #revenge #violence

The teachings of Buddha are eternal, but even then Buddha did not proclaim them to be infallible. The religion of Buddha has the capacity to change according to times, a quality which no other religion can claim to have... Now what is the basis of Buddhism? 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. ↗

— B.R. Ambedkar

#buddhism #rationalism #religion #change

All that we are is the result of what we have thought ↗

— Buddha

#thoughts-on-life #life

The language of poetry is a language of deep intimacy that is meant to touch the human spirit and awaken it to the mystery of life, all life. ↗

— Ron Starbuck

#buddhiam #christ #christianity #life

The foundational Vajrakilaya is the sun shining in the sky behind the clouds. The path Vajrakilaya is the removal of the clouds from the sky through the force of wind and rain, or whatever; it is the path of method and wisdom, combined. And the resultant Vajrakilaya is the nature of your mind, the nature of your rigpa, which is the same mind as the mind of the primordial buddha, Kuntuzangpo. The path Vajrakilaya is the removal of the adventitious veil of obscuration that covers rigpa. Applying the method by practicing generation stage (kyerim) and completion stage (dzogrim), accumulating merit and purifying negative karma, removing that veil, is the path. The result is realizing that ones own self nature is buddha. So the result is the same as the foundation. In the beginning you are buddha, and in the end you are buddha. ↗

— Gyatrul Rinpoche

#nonduality #sun #tantra #vajrakilaya #nature

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

— Gautama Buddha

#fire #folly #greed #hatred #passion

The Buddhas had to be destroyed by the Taliban to get the world thinking about Afghanistan. ↗

— Mohsen Makhmalbaf

#afghanistan #buddhas #destroyed #get #had

A lot of the powerful religious leaders, from Jesus to Buddha to Tibetan monks, they're really talking about the same things: love and acceptable, and the value of friendship, and respecting yourself so you can respect others. ↗

— Jena Malone

#acceptable #buddha #friendship #jesus #leaders