quotations about Buddhism
We have two alternatives: either we question our beliefs -- or we don't. Either we accept our fixed versions of reality -- or we begin to challenge them. In Buddha's opinion, to train in staying open and curious -- to train in dissolving our assumptions and beliefs -- is the best use of our human lives.
PEMA CHODRON
The Pocket Pema Chodron
It's an ugly woods, I was saying to myself, padding along a trail where other walkers had broken ground before me. And then I found an extraordinary bouquet. Someone had bound an offering of dry seed pods, yew, lyme grass, red berries, and brown fern and laid it on the path: "nothing special," as Buddhists say, meaning "everything." Gathered to formality, each dry stalk proclaimed a slant, an attitude, infinite shades of neutral.
MARY ROSE O'REILLEY
The Barn at the End of the World
To say that Buddhist principles such as dependent origination, emptiness, and suchness are impersonal does not mean that Buddhism is indifferent to human affairs. On the contrary, Buddhism as a religion is essentially concerned with the salvation of humankind.
MASAO ABE
Zen and the Modern World
She believed that the Buddhists were right--that if you want, you will suffer; if you love, you will grieve.
ANNE LAMOTT
Crooked Little Heart
In Buddhism, compassion always goes with wisdom. Compassion without wisdom is not understood to be true compassion, and wisdom without compassion is not true wisdom.
MASAO ABE
Zen and the Modern World
Ignorance, vulnerability, fear, anger, and desire are expressions of the infinite potential of your buddha nature. There's nothing inherently wrong or right with making such choices. The fruit of Buddhist practice is simply the recognition that these and other mental afflictions are nothing more or less than choices available to us because our real nature is infinite in scope.
YONGEY MINGYUR RINPOCHE
Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom