Meaningful Quotes

[Reena Searl]

Buddha quotes show us the truth about life and death through the wise words from the Buddha.
People do not have to be a Buddhist to read and understand these quotes, they can just be life lessons which can benefit everyone who are seeking the true meaning of life.

I love Buddha quotes, sharing below quotes that keep us mindful and make us wiser:

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.
Buddha

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.
Buddha

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.
Buddha

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

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.
Buddha

However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
Buddha

I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.
Buddha

I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.
Buddha

In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.
Buddha

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.
Buddha

It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.
Buddha

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
Buddha

It is better to travel well than to arrive.
Buddha

[vajra power]

"self,indeed,is savoir of self,
self,indeed, is one's refuge,
control,therefor, your own self,
As a merchant , a noble steed."
~  Buddha

[bambi]

I have family members who are so bitter with their lives and it's sad to know that. They used to look down on me for not earning enough, didn't get a partner up to their expectations, didn't contribute enough, etc. I used to react by scolding and holding grudges, which was bitter for me as well. When Dharma came in, all I saw was their bitterness and it was their karma to become like that so in turn, I calmed down and did my very best to understand them instead of lashing back at them. Even colleagues are the same, in fact most of the people I know are so sad for they are stuck with their same habituations.

Reena's quote from Buddha is the best to describe:

"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell." - Buddha

[KhedrubGyatso]

It is not that you must be free from fear.The  moment you try to free yourself from fear, you create resistance against fear.
Resistance , in any form , does not end fear. What is needed, rather than running away  or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear , not how to escape from it, not how to resist it through courage and so on. - J.Krishnamurti

I find above very Buddhistic coming from one who has been considered by some spiritualists , theosophical and philosophical establishments to be good enough to be a World Teacher of our times although he is well known as a critic of  religious practices especially in its outer forms. 

Buddhist practice always deal with problems at its roots , source or cause. When the source is recognized or identified, we can deal with it to control or remove it. If we choose avoidance or try to get rid of it, we cannot study it for what it is . Often, we will create more problems than just fearing.

[ratanasutra]

"If what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?" - Socrates
In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?”

“Hold on a minute,” Socrates...... replied. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“Well, no,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and…”

“All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now, let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?”

“Umm, no, on the contrary…”

“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about my friend, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left—the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really.”

i like this quote, it will help me to think before i pass any message about other people to the third person. And i think we will have less misunderstand, gossip if we are follow this.

i also like quotes from reena, its remind me of many things. We might know many things but once we facing with some problem what we knew doesn't help as we only concentrate in the problem we have and forgot about what we knew, hence could not get the solution and stuck with it..
Thanks for meaningful quotes.

[Jessie Fong]

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."

I can identify with this quote.  I am the explosive type - the volcano that spews hot boiling lava but then again I can also cool down quite fast.  I have learned not to hold on to anger.  I would rather "throw" it out and be done.

"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell."

[pgdharma]

"Every one of us is getting older, which is a natural process. Time is constantly moving on, second by second. Nothing can stop it, but what we can do is use our time properly; that is in our hands. Whether we believe in a spiritual tradition or not, we need to use our time meaningfully. If over days, weeks, months and years, we have used our time in a meaningful way – when our last day comes, we'll be happy, we'll have no regrets."- Dalai Lama.

We sometimes forget that we'll die someday and we waste our time doing all the wrong things...!Realizing that death can happen anytime, I will spend every day of my life meaningfully so that I will have no regrets on my death bed.

[KhedrubGyatso]

'' You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”  Steve Jobs

( Be sincere and honest. We know who we are . There is nothing to hide or hold back from doing good in the short time we are here in this world.) 

[Aurore]

As a start, I thought this was quite a funny one. Hehe.

Enlightenment is your ego’s biggest disappointment.
- Unknown

I was going through some quotes, so happen this stopped me as it brought some memories.

"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions". Dalai Lama

I remembered during times when I was granted a wish, I used to wish for permanent happiness. It seem to be something far fetch and to be somehow granted. After learning Buddhism, is when I realised that happiness is not dependent on fate but comes from our own actions as per this quote.

[negra orquida]

Out of all the quotes I've come across, this one is the one i can remember most easily because it is so funny and true:

Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die ~ Peter Tosh

It is actually from a Christian song

EVERYBODY WANTS to go to HEAVEN (but nobody wants to die)	Small | Large

Here is the blues version by Albert King

Albert King -- Everybody Wants to go to Heaven, But Nobody Wants to Die

I take it that it shows how we all want to go to a good place after we die, but we don't want to do the leg work to get us there... and knowing that we are not doing anything to win a place in heaven, we do not want to die!  If you listen to the first link I've pasted here.. its quite Buddhistic! It mentions about preparing for death and not being attached to the pleasures of this life.

[KhedrubGyatso]

We ourselves must choose definitions of life in line with the requirements of the survival of our species, and the advancement of wisdom. We could choose”life” to mean any number of things. In an underpopulated world life could begin at conception, making abortion illegal, while in an overpopulated world life might begin at birth.

[biggyboy]

This is one quote that has been said many times consistently throughout years of teachings that I have gathered.  And it is important to always keep this in mind that should we want to help others, we be the light and many will follow.  Don't keep ourselves in the darkness.

When Buddha was on his death bed he noticed his young disciple Anan was weeping.
'Why are you weeping, Anan?' he asked.
'Because the light of the world is about to be extinguished and we will be in darkness.'
The Buddha summoned up all his remaining energy and spoke what were to be his final words on earth:
'Anan, Anan, be a light unto yourself.'

Buddhist Scripture

Likewise,

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Buddha

[Jessie Fong]

In criticizing, the teacher is hoping to teach. That's all.
Bankei

[KhedrubGyatso]

With merits, the issue of expectations does not arise since it comes with any virtue and do not depend on others. There is no danger of attaching to merits becos there is nothing to attach and nobody can take it away unless we ourselves destroy it. Wanting merits is good desire. The object, merit is a cause for happiness. Unlike external things which are objects of suffering.

- advice from a Buddhist practitioner

[icy]

"We feel money and power can bring happiness and solve problems, but they are not definite causes of those desired states. If that were so, it would follow that those who have wealth would necessarily have happiness, and those who do not have wealth would always experience suffering. Money and power facilitate, but it is clear that they are not the primary causes of, happiness and solving our problems. It is justified for us to make material and financial development for building our nation and providing shelter, etc. for ourselves; we need to do that. But we also need to seek inner development. As we can see, there are many people who have wealth and power who remain unhappy, due to which their health declines, and they are always taking medicines. On the other hand, we find people who live like beggars but who always remain peaceful and happy.
Therefore, in our daily life a certain way of thinking makes us happy, and a certain way of thinking makes us unhappy. In other words, there are certain states of mind which bring us problems, and they can be removed; we need to make an effort in that direction. Likewise, there are certain states of mind that bring us peace and happiness, and we need to cultivate and enhance them." B

By the Dalai Lamai