Gautama Buddha: Quotes about the world

Gautama Buddha was philosopher, reformer and the founder of Buddhism. Explore interesting quotes on world.
Gautama Buddha: 242 quotes21 likes

“We are what we think.
All that we are arises with our thoughts.
With our thoughts we make the world.”

Gautama Buddha

As rendered by T. Byrom (1993), Shambhala Publications. <br class="br">There is no quote from the Pali Canon that matches up with any of these. The closest quote to this is in the Majjhima Nikaya 19: <br class="br">&quot;Whatever a monk keeps pursuing with his thinking &amp; pondering, that becomes the inclination of his awareness. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with sensuality, abandoning thinking imbued with renunciation, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with sensuality. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with ill will, abandoning thinking imbued with non-ill will, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with ill will. If a monk keeps pursuing thinking imbued with harmfulness, abandoning thinking imbued with harmlessness, his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with harmfulness.&quot; Sources: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.019.than.html <br class="br">Misattributed

“After my nirvana, how will people who eat the flesh of beings deserve to be called disciples of Śākyamuni? You should understand that these people who eat flesh may gain some modicum of mental awakening while practicing samādhi, but they are all great rākṣasas who in the end must fall into the sea of death and rebirth. They are not disciples of the Buddha. Such people kill and devour each other, feeding on each other in an endless cycle. How could they possibly get out of the three realms? When you teach people in the world to practice samādhi, teach them to renounce all killing.”

Gautama Buddha

Part VII, Chapter 2: On Killing
Mahayana, Śūraṅgama Sūtra

“The innumerable worlds in the cosmos are like the eyes of the net. Each and every world is different, its variety infinite. So too are the Dharma Doors (methods of cultivation) taught by the Buddhas.”

Gautama Buddha

Sutra Translation Committee of the US and Canada (2000). The Brahma Net Sutra, New York Brahmajala Sutra (Mahayana)
Mahayana, Brahmajala Sutra

“Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then, as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.
…
I teach one thing and one only: suffering and the end of suffering.
…
Just as a mother would protect with her life her own son, her only son, so one should cultivate an unbounded mind towards all beings, and loving-kindness towards all the world. One should cultivate an unbounded mind, above and below and across, without obstruction, without enmity, without rivalry.
Standing, or going, or seated, or lying down, as long as one is free from drowsiness, one should practice this mindfulness. This, they say, is the holy state here.”

Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha, Sutta Nipata
Unclassified

“In what is seen, there should be just the seen;
In what is heard, there should be just the heard;
In what is sensed;
there should be just the sensed;
In what is thought, there should be just the thought.
…
He should not kill a living being, nor cause it to be killed, nor should he incite another to kill. Do not injure any being, either strong or weak in the world.”

Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha, Sutta Nipāta II,14
Unclassified

“Can there be joy and laughter When always the world is ablaze? Enshrouded in darkness Should you not seek a light?”

Gautama Buddha

Source: Pali Canon, Sutta Pitaka, Khuddaka Nikaya (Minor Collection), Dhammapada

“What is this world condition? Body is the world condition. And with body and form goes feeling, perception, consciousness, and all the activities throughout the world. The arising of form and the ceasing of form--everything that has been heard, sensed, and known, sought after and reached by the mind--all this is the embodied world, to be penetrated and realized.
…
The fool thinks he has won a battle when he bullies with harsh speech, but knowing how to be forbearing alone makes one victorious.”

Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha, Samyutta Nikaya [citation needed]
Unclassified

“In a world become blind,
I beat the drum of the Deathless.”

Gautama Buddha

Ariyapariyesana Sutta http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.026.than.html <br class="br">Unclassified

“Faith is the best wealth for a man in this world. Righteousness when well practised brings happiness. Truth is the sweetest of flavours. They say the life of one living by wisdom is the best.”

Gautama Buddha

§ 182
Source: Pali Canon, Sutta Pitaka, Khuddaka Nikaya (Minor Collection), (Suttas falling down)

“Now in those days, brethren, there shall arise in the world an Exalted One by name Maitreya (the Kindly One) an Arhat, a Fully Enlightened One, endowed with wisdom and righteousness, a Happy One, a World-knower, the Peerless Charioteer of men to be tamed, a teacher of the devas and mankind, an Exalted One, a Buddha like myself. He of His own abnormal powers shall realize and make known the world, and the worlds of the devas, with their Maras, their Brahmas, the host of recluses and brahmins, of devas and mankind alike, even as I do now. He shall proclaim the Norm, lovely in its beginning, lovely in its middle, and lovely in the end thereof. He shall make known the wholly perfect life of righteousness in all its purity, both in the spirit and in the letter of it, even as I do now. He shall lead an Order of Brethren numbering many thousands, even as I do now lead an order of Brethren numbering many hundreds.”

Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha in Digha Nikaya as quoted in Avatars down the ages by Felicity Elliot http://www.shareintl.org/archives/AgelessWisdom/aw_fe-Avatars.htm <br class="br">Source: Pali Canon, Sutta Pitaka, Digha Nikaya (Long Discourses)

“How then can it be compassionate to gorge on other beings’ blood and flesh? Monks who will not wear silks from the East, whether coarse or fine; who will not wear shoes or boots of leather, nor furs, nor birds’ down from our own country; and who will not consume milk, curds, or ghee, have truly freed themselves from the world.”

Gautama Buddha

Part VII, Chapter 2: On Killing
Mahayana, Śūraṅgama Sūtra

“Solitude is happiness for one who is content, who has heard the Dhamma and clearly sees. Non-affliction is happiness in the world - harmlessness towards all living beings.”

Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha, Udana 10
Unclassified

“I am not the first Buddha who came upon Earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time, another Buddha will arise in the world - a Holy One, a supremely enlightened One, endowed with wisdom in conduct, auspicious, knowing the universe, an incomparable leader of men, a master of angels and mortals.”

Gautama Buddha