#buddhism

To dwell in the here and now does not mean you never think about the past or responsibly plan for the future. The idea is simply not to allow yourself to get lost in regrets about the past or worries about the future. If you are firmly grounded in the present moment, the past can be an object of inquiry, the object of your mindfulness and concentration. You can attain many insights by looking into the past. But you are still grounded in the present moment. ↗

— Thich Nhat Hanh

#art

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

— Gautama Buddha

#buddhism #life #living #religion #spirituality

Those who read books cannot understand the teachings and, what's more, may even go astray. But those who try to observe the things going on in the mind, and always take that which is true in their own minds as their standard, never get muddled. They are able to comprehend suffering, and ultimately will understand Dharma. Then, they will understand the books they read. ↗

— Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

#experience #self-knowledge #study #experience

Maybe it’s something which can’t be defined,” Enso Roshi says. “Maybe it’s a question, to be lived. ↗

— T. Scott McLeod

#enlightenment #life-s-greatest-answers #life-s-purpose #living-the-question #meditation

A wide and vague impression exists that so-called Eastern religion is more contemplative, innocuous, and humane than the proselytizing monotheisms of the West. Don't believe a word of this: try asking the children of Indochina who were dumped by their parents for inherited deformities that were attributed to sins in a previous 'life. ↗

— Christopher Hitchens

#buddhism #eastern-religion #indochina #monotheism #rebirth-buddhism

Beyond this life and This world I'll have it til My heart's content: The bright moon that passed over The horizon before I had my fill. ↗

— Saigyō

#life

Children I implore you get out of the burning house now three carts wait outside to save you from a homeless life relax in the village square before the sky everything's empty no direction is better or worse east is just as good as west those who know the meaning of this are free to go where they want ↗

— Han-shan

#old-songs #transcendence #life

Buddhism is all about science. If science is the systematic pursuit of the accurate knowledge of reality, then science is Buddhism, Buddhism is science. ↗

— Robert A.F. Thurman

#psychology #science #spirituality #wisdom #science

On the philosophical level, both Buddhism and modern science share a deep suspicion of any notion of absolutes, whether conceptualize as a transcendent being, as an eternal, unchanging principle such as soul, or as a fundamental substratum of reality. ... In the Buddhist investigation of reality, at least in principle, empirical evidence should triumph over scriptural authority, no matter how deeply venerated a scripture may be. ~ 14th Dalai Lama in his talk to the Society for Neuroscience in 2005 in Washington. ↗

— Dalai Lama XIV

#evidence #science #scripture #science

In meditation we discover our inherent restlessness. Sometimes we get up and leave. Sometimes we sit there but our bodies wiggle and squirm and our minds go far away. This can be so uncomfortable that we feel’s it’s impossible to stay. Yet this feeling can teach us not just about ourselves but what it is to be human…we really don’t want to stay with the nakedness of our present experience. It goes against the grain to stay present. These are the times when only gentleness and a sense of humor can give us the strength to settle down…so whenever we wander off, we gently encourage ourselves to “stay” and settle down. Are we experiencing restlessness? Stay! Are fear and loathing out of control? Stay! Aching knees and throbbing back? Stay! What’s for lunch? Stay! I can’t stand this another minute! Stay!” ↗

— Pema Chödrön

#loving-kindness #meditation #mindfulness #wisdom #experience