What are your favourite spiritual quotes?

[Geoff-Allen]

“If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.”

~ Pema Chodron

 

[Flame]

“Religion is like a pair of shoes.....Find one that fits for you, but don't make me wear your shoes.”

George Carlin

 

[Geoff-Allen]

"Act in the moment, live in the present, slowly slowly don’t allow the past to interfere, and you will be surprised that life is such an eternal wonder, such a mysterious phenomenon and such a great gift that one simply feels constantly in gratitude."

~ Osho

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I am the wind that breathes upon the sea
I am the wave on the ocean
I am the murmur of leaves rustling
I am the rays of the sun
I am the beam of the moon and stars
I am the power of trees growing
I am the bud breaking into blossom
I am the movement of the salmon swimming
I am the courage of the wild bear fighting
I am the speed of the stag running
I am the strength of the ox pulling the plow
I am the size of the mighty oak tree
and I am the thoughts of all people
Who praise my beauty and grace
(Unknown)

 

[Aupmanyav]

"Paropakāram punyāya, pāpāya parapīdanam"
(To help others is merit, to pain others is sin)

 

[Ana.J]

“If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.”

~ Pema Chodron

Oh yes...this is the motto of my life.

 

[godnotgod]

"Think neither god, nor not-god"
Buddha
*****

"Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes."
Alan Watts
*****

"God became man that man might become God"
St. Athanasius
*****

“We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That is all.”

Kalu Rinpoche
*****

'The fundamental difference between Buddhism and other religions is that Buddhism has no God or gods before whom people bow down in return for peace of mind. The spirit enmeshed in the Buddha’s teachings refuses to offer a god in exchange for freedom from anxiety. Instead, freedom from anxiety can only be found at the point where the Self settles naturally upon itself.'

from: 'From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment', by Dogen/Uchiyama
*****

 

[Rick O'Shez]

"Think neither god, nor not-god"
Buddha
*****

What is the source for that quote?

 

[godnotgod]

What is the source for that quote?

I am afraid I lost track of that source long ago.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

I am afraid I lost track of that source long ago.

I see. I know the Buddhist suttas quite well, and that one doesn't sound familiar. There are quite a lot of fake Buddha quotes floating around on the internet.

 

[Geoff-Allen]

There are quite a lot of fake Buddha quotes floating around on the internet

You are right - there's even a site by that name!

http://fakebuddhaquotes.com/

Cheers

 

[Geoff-Allen]

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his 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 this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

~ Albert Einstein

More here -

http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/9810.Albert_Einstein

Namaste

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Some Delphic Maxims

Know yourself.
Worship the gods.
Share the load of the unfortunate.
Be content.
As a child be well-behaved; as a youth, self-disciplined; in maturity, just; in old age, sensible; on reaching the end, without sorrow.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

"Rest in natural great peace this exhausted mind,
Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thoughts
Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves
In the infinite ocean of samsara.
Rest in natural great peace."

- Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

 

[godnotgod]

I see. I know the Buddhist suttas quite well, and that one doesn't sound familiar. There are quite a lot of fake Buddha quotes floating around on the internet.

It is not fake in terms of content. Do you understand what it is saying? Do you further understand that it doesn't matter who said it?

 

[godnotgod]

"Rest in natural great peace this exhausted mind,
Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thoughts
Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves
In the infinite ocean of samsara.
Rest in natural great peace."

- Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

ha ha...

Where is there any such 'exhausted mind' that can 'rest in peace'?

Shen Hsiu, most learned monk, wrote the following:

"The body is the wisdom-tree,
The mind is a bright mirror in a stand;
Take care to wipe it all the time,
And allow no dust to cling."

...to which Hui Neng, the illiterate monastery cook replied:

"Fundamentally no wisdom-tree exists,
Nor the stand of a mirror bright.
Since all is empty from the beginning,
Where can the dust alight?"

The mantle of leadership was then handed over to Hui Neng, who became the Sixth Zen Patriarch.

http://sped2work.tripod.com/huineng.html

Just sayin'.....

 

[godnotgod]

You are right - there's even a site by that name!

http://fakebuddhaquotes.com/

Cheers

Interesting...I don't see the quote in question there, however.

 

[Tumah]

I don't know what spiritual means, but if we're quoting religious books, here's mine:

There's always room for desert.
- Talmud Megilah 7b

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Interesting...I don't see the quote in question there, however.

Yes - it isn't easy to sort trough all the quotes at that site ...

I like this one -

http://fakebuddhaquotes.com/dont-be-attached-to-my-philosophy-and-doctrine/

It doesn't REALLY matter who said what as long as it helps people on their path 2 enlightenment I suppose ...

"May all beings be happy!"

Namaste

 

[godnotgod]

It doesn't REALLY matter who said what as long as it helps people on their path 2 enlightenment I suppose ...

Of course, it should be remembered that THE Buddha was also A buddha.