98 Quotes & Sayings By Gautama Buddha

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. Gautama Buddha

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. Gautama Buddha

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. Gautama Buddha

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. Gautama Buddha

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. Gautama Buddha

Subhuti, someone might fill innumerable worlds with the seven treasures and give all away in gifts of alms, but if any good man or any good woman awakens the thought of Enlightenment and takes even only four lines from this Discourse, reciting, using, receiving, retaining and spreading them abroad and explaining them for the benefit of others, it will be far more meritorious. Now in what manner may he explain them to others? By detachment from appearances-abiding in Real Truth. -So I tell you- Thus shall you think of all this fleeting world: A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream; A flash of lightening in a summer cloud, A flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream. When Buddha finished this Discourse the venerable Subhuti, together with the bhikshus, bhikshunis, lay-brothers and sisters, and the whole realms of Gods, Men and Titans, were filled with joy by His teaching, and, taking it sincerely to heart they went their ways. . Gautama Buddha

Yes, Kālāmas, it is proper that your have doubt, that you have perplexity, for a doubt has arisen in a matter which is doubtful. Now, look you Kālāmas, do not be led by reports, or traditions, or hearsay. Be not led by the authority of religious texts, not by the delight in speculative opinions, nor by seeming possibilities, not by the idea: 'this is our teacher'. But, O Kālāmas, when you know for yourself that certain things are unwholesome, and wrong, and bad, then give them up.. And when you know for yourself that certain things are wholesome and good, then accept them and follow them. Gautama Buddha

These.. things, householder, are welcome, agreeable, pleasant, & hard to obtain in the world: Long life is welcome, agreeable, pleasant, & hard to obtain in the world. Beauty is welcome, agreeable, pleasant, & hard to obtain in the world. Happiness is welcome, agreeable, pleasant, & hard to obtain in the world. Status is welcome, agreeable, pleasant, & hard to obtain in the world.. Now, I tell you, these.. things are not to be obtained by reason of prayers or wishes. If they were to be obtained by reason of prayers or wishes, who here would lack them? It's not fitting for the disciple of the noble ones who desires long life to pray for it or to delight in doing so. Instead, the disciple of the noble ones who desires long life should follow the path of practice leading to long life. In so doing, he will attain long life..]. Gautama Buddha

Doubt everything. Find your own light. Gautama Buddha

These.. things, householder, are welcome, agreeable, pleasant, & hard to obtain in the world: Long life is welcome, agreeable, pleasant, & hard to obtain in the world. Beauty is welcome, agreeable, pleasant, & hard to obtain in the world. Happiness is welcome, agreeable, pleasant, & hard to obtain in the world. Status is welcome, agreeable, pleasant, & hard to obtain in the world.. Now, I tell you, these.. things are not to be obtained by reason of prayers or wishes. If they were to be obtained by reason of prayers or wishes, who here would lack them? It's not fitting for the disciple of the noble ones who desires long life to pray for it or to delight in doing so. Instead, the disciple of the noble ones who desires long life should follow the path of practice leading to long life. In so doing, he will attain long l. Gautama Buddha

Peace comes from within.  Do not seek it without. Gautama Buddha

Mirror mirror on the wall, show the real me or naught at all. Gautama Buddha

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

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. . Gautama Buddha

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

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

Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate. Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted. Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled. Look within, be still. Free from fear and attachment, know the sweet joy of the way. Gautama Buddha

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

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

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

Meditate, Ānanda, do not delay, or else you will regret it later. This is our instruction to you. Gautama Buddha

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

Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think. Gautama Buddha

It is better to travel, than to arrive Gautama Buddha

Bahujanahitāya bahujanasukhāya lokānukampāya: For the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world. Gautama Buddha

Conquer the angry one by not getting angry; conquer the wicked by goodness; conquer the stingy by generosity, and the liar by speaking the Gautama Buddha

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. Gautama Buddha

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

Just as a line drawn on water with a stick will quickly vanish and will not last long; even so is human life like a line drawn on water. It is short, limited, and brief; it is full of suffering, full of tribulation. This one should wisely understand, one should do good and live a pure life; for none who is born can escape death. Gautama Buddha

He has no need for faith who knows the uncreated, who has cut off rebirth, who has destroyed any opportunity for good or evil, and cast away all desire. He is indeed the ultimate man. Gautama Buddha

Through the round of many births I roamed without reward, without rest, seeking the house-builder. Painful is birth again & again. House-builder, you're seen! You will not build a house again. All your rafters broken, the ridge pole destroyed, gone to the Unformed, the mind has come to the end of craving. Gautama Buddha

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. Gautama Buddha

Emotion arise from Desire, hence an Illusion. Gautama Buddha

Let a man leave anger, let him forsake pride, let him overcome all bondage! No sufferings befall the man who is not attached to name and form and who calls nothing his own.[ Verse 221] TR- Friedrich Max Müller Gautama Buddha

Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine. Gautama Buddha

Those who consider the inessential to be essential And see the essential as inessential Don't reach the essential, Living in the field of wrong intention Gautama Buddha

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

Patience is the highest asceticism. Gautama Buddha

Tune as the sitthar, neither high nor low, and we will dance away the hearts of men. Gautama Buddha

All beings tremble before violence. All fear death. All love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do? Gautama Buddha

You only lose what you cling to. Gautama Buddha

Now, Kalamas, don’t go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, ‘This contemplative is our teacher.’ When you know for yourselves that, ‘These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to welfare & to happiness’ – then you should enter & remain in . Gautama Buddha

It is like a lighted torch whose flame can be distributed to ever so many other torches which people may bring along; and therewith they will cook food and dispel darkness, while the original torch itself remains burning ever the same. It is even so with the bliss of th Gautama Buddha

Greater in battlethan the man who would conquera thousand-thousand men, is he who would conquerjust one –himself.Better to conquer yourselfthan others. When you've trained yourself, living in constant self-control, neither a deva nor gandhabba, nor a Mara banded with Brahmas, could turn that triumphback into defeat. Gautama Buddha

Whatever a monk keeps pursuing with his thinking and pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness. Gautama Buddha

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

Attachment leads to suffering. Gautama Buddha

Through countless births in the cycle of existence I have run, not finding although seeking the builder of this house; and again and again I faced the suffering of new birth. Oh housebuilder! Now you are seen. You shall not build a house again for me. All your beams are broken, the ridgepole is shattered. The mind has become freed from conditioning: the end of craving has been reached. Gautama Buddha

The virtuous man delights in this world and he delights in the next Gautama Buddha

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

Monks, even if bandits were to savagely sever you, limb by limb, with a double-handled saw, even then, whoever of you harbors ill will at heart would not be upholding my Teaching. Monks, even in such a situation you should train yourselves thus: 'Neither shall our minds be affected by this, nor for this matter shall we give vent to evil words, but we shall remain full of concern and pity, with a mind of love, and we shall not give in to hatred. On the contrary, we shall live projecting thoughts of universal love to those very persons, making them as well as the whole world the object of our thoughts of universal love – thoughts that have grown great, exalted and measureless. We shall dwell radiating these thoughts which are void of hostility and ill will.' It is in this way, monks, that you should train yourselves. . Gautama Buddha

Here bhikkhus, some misguided men learn the Dhamma—discourses, stanzas, expositions, verses, exclamations, sayings, birth stories, marvels, and answers to questions—but having learned the Dhamma, they do not examine the meaning of those teachings with wisdom. Not examining the meaning of those teachings with wisdom, they do not gain a reflective acceptance of them. Instead they learn the Dhamma only for the sake of criticising others and for winning in debates, and they do not experience the good for the sake of which they learned the Dhamma. Gautama Buddha

We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That is all. Gautama Buddha

He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind. Gautama Buddha

First, rely on the spirit and meaning of the teachings, not on the words; Second, rely on the teachings, not on the personality of the teacher; Third, rely on real wisdom, not superficial interpretation; And fourth, rely on the essence of your pure Wisdom Mind, not on judgmental perceptions. Gautama Buddha

Greater than all the joys Of heaven and earth, Greater still than dominion Over all the worlds, Is the joy of reaching the stream. Gautama Buddha

You are as the yellow leaf. The messengers of death are at hand. You are to travel far away. What will you take with you? You are the lamp To lighten the way. Then hurry, hurry. When your light shines Without impurity or desire You will come into the boundless country. Your life is falling away. Death is at hand. Where will you rest on the way? What have you taken with you? You are the lamp To lighten the way. Then hurry, hurry. When your light shines purely You will not be born And you will not die. Gautama Buddha

Like a caring motherholding and guarding the lifeof her only child, so with a boundless heartof lovingkindness, hold yourself and all beingsas your beloved children. Gautama Buddha

To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance. Gautama Buddha

Suppose a man threw into the sea a yoke with one hole in it, and the east wind carried it to the west, and the west wind carried it to the east, and the north wind carried it to the south, and the south wind carried it to the north. Suppose there were a blind turtle that came up once at the end of each century. What do you think, bhikkhus? Would that blind turtle put his neck into that yoke with one hole in it?"" He might, venerable sir, sometime or other at the end of a long period."" Bhikkhus, the blind turtle would sooner put his neck into that yoke with a single hole in it than a fool, once gone to perdition, would take to regain the human state, I say. Why is that? Because there is no practising of the Dhamma there, no practising of what is righteous, no doing of what is wholesome, no performance of merit. There mutual devouring prevails, and the slaughter of the weak. Gautama Buddha

What is the happiness ? Is it really happiness ? Nothing stable, just happen, stay and decay... Everything is impermanence, dissatisfaction and nothing can ever belong to itself Gautama Buddha

I shall live here in the rains, There in winter, Elsewhere in summer, " muses the fool, Not aware of the nearness of death. Gautama Buddha

JÄ«vaka, I say that there are three instances in which meat should not be eaten: when it is seen, heard, or suspected [that the living being has been slaughtered for oneself]. I say that meat should not be eaten in these three instances. I say that there are three instances in which meat may be eaten: when it is not seen, not heard, and not suspected [that the living being has been slaughtered for oneself]. I say that meat may be eaten in these three instances. . Gautama Buddha

So too, friend, purification of virtue is for the sake of reaching purification of mind; purification of mind is for the sake of reaching purification of view; purification of view is for the sake of reaching purification by overcoming doubt; purification by overcoming doubt is for the sake of reaching purification by knowledge and vision of what is the path and what is not the path; purification by knowledge and vision of what is the path and what is not the path is for the sake of reaching purification by knowledge and vision of the way; purification by knowledge and vision of the way is for the sake of reaching purification by knowledge and vision; purification by knowledge and vision is for the sake of reaching final Nibbāna [Nirvana] without clinging. It is for the sake of final Nibbāna without clinging that the holy life is lived under the Blessed One. Gautama Buddha

Resolutely train yourself to attain peace. Gautama Buddha

Bhikkus, all is burning. And what is the all that is burning? The eye is burning, visible forms are burning, eye-consciousness is burning, eye-contact is burning; also whatever is felt as pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant that arises with eye-contact as its condition, that too is burning. Burning with what? Burning with the fire of greed, with the fire of hate, with the fire of delusion, with birth, ageing and death, with sorrow, with lamentation, with pain, grief and despair it is burning. Gautama Buddha

All descriptions of reality are temporary hypotheses. Gautama Buddha

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

Hard to restrain, unstable is this mind; it flits wherever it lists. Good it is to control the mind. A controlled mind brings happiness. Gautama Buddha

Friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee of peace. Gautama Buddha

Those which arise dependently are free of inherent existence. Gautama Buddha

Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten. Gautama Buddha

Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom. Gautama Buddha