quotations about Buddhism
Among present-day religions Buddhism is the best. The doctrines of Buddhism are profound; they are almost reasonable, and historically they have been the least harmful and the least cruel. But I cannot say that Buddhism is positively good, nor would I wish to have it spread all over the world and believed by everyone. This is because Buddhism only focuses on the question of what Man is, not on what the universe is like. Buddhism does not really pursue the truth; it appeals to sentiment and, ultimately, tries to persuade people to believe in doctrines which are based on subjective assumptions not objective evidence.
BERTRAND RUSSELL
The Essence and Effect of Religion
I like the relaxed way in which the Japanese approach religion. I think of myself as basically a moral person, but I'm definitely not religious, and I'm very tired of the preachiness and obsession with other people's behavior characteristic of many religious people in the United States. As far as I could tell, there's nothing preachy about Buddhism. I was in a lot of temples, and I still don't know what Buddhists believe, except that at one point Kunio said 'If you do bad things, you will be reborn as an ox.'
DAVE BARRY
Dave Barry Does Japan
Understanding Buddhism is like groping in the dark. It is a mystery in which you may discover something and then you must throw it out again. Finally, when you no longer are seeking and you no longer have a fixed idea what dharma is, that very moment could be the moment in which you come to the wisdom that was planted within you long before your birth.
ZENJU EARTHLYN MANUEL
Tell Me Something about Buddhism: Questions and Answers for the Curious Beginner
First of all, Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. If anything at all, it is realistic, for it takes a realistic view of life and the world. It looks at things objectively (yathābhūtam). It does not falsely lull you into living in a fool's paradise, nor does it frighten and agonize you with all kinds of imaginary fears and sins. It tells you exactly and objectively what you are and what the world around you is, and shows you the way to perfect freedom, peace, tranquility and happiness.
WALPOLA RAHULA
What the Buddha Taught
The doctrine of Karma, which is the great peculiarity of Buddhism and the main source of its moral excellence, is the complement of the doctrine of Transmigration. It is the teaching of Buddha "that there is no such thing as what is commonly called a soul." I quite agree with him in that "the real man is the net result of his merits and demerits; that a man is what he does, and the character of his acts depends upon his intentions." "All that we are is the result of what we have thought."
JAMES PLATT
"Is Life Worth Living?"
The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
attributed, The Theosophist, 1964
One of the things that kills Buddhist spiritual life is excessive seriousness.
GIL FRONSDAL
attributed, goodreads
Buddhism is originally not a religion of faith in a transcendent deity but a religion of awakening to the true nature of self and others.
MASAO ABE
A Study of Dogen: His Philosophy and Religion
All the many forms of Buddhism agree that Buddhism needs to be embodied. You need to try to be a Buddha on a practical level. Even the forms of Buddhism that emphasize meditation say that meditation begins on the cushion, but ends everywhere. They mean you begin meditating in the simplest, easiest fashion, but you try to extend your meditation into your daily life. In the end, your entire life becomes a meditation.
FRANZ METCALF
Buddha in Your Backpack
The Buddhist doctrine of impermanence includes the notion that there is no self... It holds that the idea of a separate, individual self is an illusion, just another form of maya, an intellectual concept that has no reality. To cling to this idea of a separate self leads to the same pain and suffering (duhkha) as the adherence to any other fixed category of thought.
FRITJOF CAPRA
The Web of Life
Institutional Buddhism has been conspicuously ready to accept or ignore the inequalities and tyrannies of whatever political system it found itself under. This can be death to Buddhism, because it is death to any meaningful function of compassion.
GARY SNYDER
"Buddhist Anarchism", 1961
According to the Buddha, the failure to recognize the illusion of the self is the source of all ignorance and unhappiness. It is only by renouncing the self, that is, by dropping his ego defences and committing metaphorical suicide, that a person can open up to different modes of being and relating and thereby transform himself into a pure essence of humanity. In so doing, he becomes free to recast himself as a much more joyful and productive person, and attains the only species of transcendence and immortality that is open to man.
NEEL BURTON
Hide and Seek: The Psychology of Self-Deception
With every breath, we draw closer to death. Buddhists do not focus on this point because they are morbid or because they want to scare people. They focus on it because it is real. Death has always been so. It is real. So it is better to understand that clearly. That's why they talk about it so much.
DANIEL E. PERDUE
The Course in Buddhist Reasoning and Debate
Where there are humans,
You'll find flies,
And Buddhas.
KOBAYASHI ISSA
attributed, London Magazine, 1986
We took a bus to the nearby monastery of one of the last great Tang dynasty Chan masters, Yun-men. Yun-men was known for his pithy "one word" Zen. When asked "What is the highest teaching of the Buddha?" he replied: "An appropriate statement." On another occasion, he answered: "Cake." I admired his directness.
STEPHEN BATCHELOR
Confession of a Buddhist Atheist
The master in Buddhism is like a rainbow--beautiful to look upon from afar but vanishing when one sees it near at hand.
NYOGEN SENZAKI
Like a Dream, Like a Fantasy
I read of a Buddhist teacher who developed Alzheimer's. He had retired from teaching because his memory was unreliable, but he made one exception for a reunion of his former students. When he walked onto the stage, he forgot everything, even where he was and why. However, he was a skilled Buddhist and he simply began sharing his feelings with the crowd. He said, "I am anxious. I feel stupid. I feel scared and dumb. I am worried that I am wasting everyone's time. I am fearful. I am embarrassing myself." After a few minutes of this, he remembered his talk and proceeded without apology. The students were deeply moved, not only by his wise teachings, but also by how he handled his failings.
MARY BRAY PIPHER
Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World
Okay, but why use Buddhism? Because Buddhism is focused right on you, right on your experience in this very moment. You are the center of attention. You are the one who makes Buddhism real. And Buddhism can help make you real, too.
FRANZ METCALF
Buddha in Your Backpack
The Buddhists or the Jains do not depend upon God; but the whole force of their religion is directed to the great central truth in every religion, to evolve a God out of man. They have not seen the Father, but they have seen the Son. And he that hath seen the Son hath seen the Father also.
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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