1,972 Quotes About Buddhism

As you develop your realization of Dharma, you reach higher and higher levels of the path, culminating in the attainment of the full enlightenment or Buddhahood. Dharma is the true refuge.

When you cultivate deeply such powerful sentiments as those articulated in Shantideva’s prayer...For as long as space exists, For as long as sentient beings remain, Until then, may I too remain And dispel the miseries of the world, … time is totally irrelevant; you are thinking in terms of infinity.

The moment you have realized bodhicitta, you have become a Mahayana practitioner and are on the path to complete enlightenment but the moment your bodhicitta degenerates, you fall outside the fold of the bodhisattvas. Without bodhicitta, no matter how advanced you are in other practices—even if you have a direct realization of emptiness or have attained nirvana—nothing you do becomes the conduct of a bodhisattva or the cause of enlightenment.

Bodhisattvas are referred to as enlightened “heroes” or “warriors.” They are highly altruistic beings who have the wisdom to realize that by dedicating themselves to the welfare of other sentient beings, the fulfillment of their own self-interest comes automatically as a by-product.

With the wish to free all beings I shall always go for refuge To Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Until I reach full enlightenment, Inspired by wisdom and compassion, Today, in the Buddha’s presence, I generate the mind of full awakening For the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains As long as sentient beings remain Until then may I too remain And dispel the miseries of the world.

Having these negative imprints on my mental continuum is unbearable. “It’s as if I’ve swallowed a lethal poison. I must practice the antidote right away and purify all this negative karma immediately, without a second’s delay.” In this way, generate strong feelings of urgency and regret.

The first two steps of the path: the recognition of the preciousness of human life, which is endowed with liberty and opportunity, and the awareness of the immediacy of death. (p. 79)

In the beginning I took the teacher as the teacher,In the middle I took the scriptures as the teacher,In the end I took my own mind as the teacher.

Things are highly interdependent. The very concepts of “we” and “they” are becoming irrelevant. War is out of date because our neighbors are part of ourselves. We see this in economic, educational and environmental issues. Although we may have some ideological differences or other conflicts with our neighbor, economically and environmentally we share essentially the same country, and destroying our neighbor is destroying ourselves. It’s foolish.