Daily Buddhist Verses
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[A deva:]
A giver of what is a giver of strength?
A giver of what, a giver of beauty?
A giver of what, a giver of ease?
A giver of what, a giver of vision?
And who is a giver of everything?
Being asked, please explain this to me.
[The Buddha:]
A giver of food is a giver of strength.
A giver of clothes, a giver of beauty.
A giver of a vehicle, a giver of ease.
A giver of a lamp, a giver of vision.
And the one who gives a residence,
is the one who is a giver of everything.
But the one who teaches the Dhamma
is a giver of
the Deathless.
- Samyutta Nikaya I.42 -
Standing to one side, a devata addressed the Blessed One with a verse:
Living in the wilderness,
staying peaceful, remaining chaste,
eating just one meal a day:
why are their faces
so bright & serene?
[The Buddha:]
They don't sorrow over the past,
don't long for the future.
They survive on the present.
That's why their faces
are bright & serene.
From longing for the future,
from sorrowing over the past,
fools wither away
like a green reed cut down.
- Samyutta Nikaya I.10 -
Mindfulness (being aware of the present) is the way to the Immortal, unmindfulness the way to death. Those who are mindful do not die, (whereas) the unmindful are like the dead.
Mindful among the unmindful, wide awake among the sleeping, the man of good understanding forges ahead like a swift horse outdistancing a feeble hack.
- Appamadavagga - Mindfulness (verses 21-32) -
"As a solid rock cannot be shaken by the wind, so the spiritually mature person is unmoved by blame and praise."
Panditavagga - The Spiritually Mature (verses 76-89) -
The man who has evil comrades and friends is given to evil ways, to ruin does he fall in both worlds -- here and the next.
Shakyamuni Buddha
> Sigalovada Sutra -
Wisdom is also like a big bright lamp in the darkness of ignorance,
a good medicine for those who are sick, and a sharp ax for cutting down the tree of afflictions.
Shakyamuni Buddha
> Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching -
BTW, I have decided that anyone who wishes to post any Buddhist verses that is NOT from Buddha, but by other Buddhist masters, venerables, etc, which you find useful, you may do so.
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Property is unstable, and youth perishes in a moment. Life itself is held in the grinning fangs of Death, Yet men delay to obtain release from the world. Alas, the conduct of mankind is surprising. - Nagarjuna
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5. 'He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed me'-- for those who brood on this, hostility isn't stilled.
6. 'He insulted me, hit me, beat me, robbed me' -- for those who don't brood on this, hostility is stilled.
- Dhammapada 1 Pairs -
My daily activities are not unusual,
I'm just naturally in harmony with them.
Grasping nothing, discarding nothing...
Supernatural power and marvelous activity -
Drawing water and carrying firewood.
Layman Pang-yun -
False-imagination teaches that such things as light and shade, long and short, black and white are different and are to be discriminated; but they are not independent of each other; they are only different aspects of the same thing, they are terms of relation and not of reality. Conditions of existence are not of a mutually exclusive character; in essence things are not two but one.
Shakyamuni Buddha
> The Lankavatara Sutra -
'Compassion and love are not mere luxuries.
As the source both of inner and external peace,
they are fundamental to the continued survival of our species.'
His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama -
Dharma is the solution to all life's problems, whatever they are, and, more importantly, the sole means of preventing them from arising in the first place.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche -
A being who has not been your mother at one time in the past is not easy to find...A being who has not been your father...your brother...your sister...your son...your daughter at one time in the past is not easy to find.
Shakyamuni Buddha
> Samyutta Nikaya XV.14-19, Mata Sutta, Mother -
A student went to his meditation teacher and said, "My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I'm constantly falling asleep. It's just horrible!" "It will pass," the teacher said matter-of-factly. A week later, the student came back to his teacher. "My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It's just wonderful!' "It will pass," the teacher replied matter-of-factly.
Zen story -
[Albert Einstein speaks]: "Michele has left this strange world just before me. This is of no importance. For us convinced physicists the distinction between past, present, and future is an illusion, albeit a persistent one." p. 294
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"Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity" -- Albert Einstein [1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press]
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"The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. The religion which is based on experience, which refuses dogmatism. If there's any religion that would cope the scientific needs it will be BuddhismÂ…"
-- Albert Einstein -
"Still there are moments when one feels free from one's own identification
with human limitations and inadequacies. At such moments one imagines that
one stands on some spot of a small planet, gazing in amazement at the cold
yet profoundly moving beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable; life and
death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny, only
being."
-- Albert Einstein -
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
- Albert Einstein -
Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world.
- Albert Einstein -
There are many other quotes form Albert Einstein in relation to Buddhism
I only posted one of them there into this forum: Einstein and Buddha: the parallel sayings
This remarkable book contains over 120 sayings from the founders of modern physics paired with parallel sayings from the seminal works of Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist contemplatives. Einstein and Buddha is a fascinating collection of quotes that challenges us to think deeper about the relationship between modern physics and mystical insight. Although these two ways of understanding and investigating reality have significant differences, the parallels suggest that they share a mysterious and profound connection. continued in the webpage... -
"A human being is part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive. (Albert Einstein, 1954)"
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"I alone will practice all that is wholesome. Those who are powerless and under the control of karma and delusion are unable to benefit themselves or attain their own purposes. Worldly people are completely unable to make their lives meaningful. Therefore, I shall practice what is wholesome for the benefit of all sentient beings. While others are engaged in inferior and menial tasks in which they encounter many difficulties, how can I sit here at peace and do nothing? I must and shall benefit them, but without ever succumbing to the poison of self-importance."
-Shantideva, "Bodhicaryavatara" -
If water settles and become still, we can see all sorts of things reflected in it. Likewise, when the mind is settled, wisdom is resplendent. The illuminating light of wisdom surpasses all other light. - Venerable Ajahn Chah