Buddhist Wisdom

[Pravin Kumar]

In whom there's no craving --the sticky ensnarer-- to lead him anywherever at all; awakened, his pasture endless, pathless: by what path will you lead him astray?

There's no one unfaulted in the world. There never was, will be, nor at present is found anyone entirely faulted or entirely praised.

What is meant by nonduality, Mahatmi? It means that light and shade, long and short, black and white, can only be experienced in relation to each other; light is not independent of shade, nor black of white. There are no opposites, only relationships. In the same way, nirvana and the ordinary world of suffering are not two things but related to each other. There is no nirvana except where the world of suffering is; there is no world of suffering apart from nirvana. For existence is not mutually exclusive.

- Lankavatara Sutra


By charity, goodness, restraint, and self-control men and woman alike can store up a well-hidden treasure -- a treasure which cannot be given to others and which robbers cannot steal. A wise person should do good -- that is the treasure which will not leave one.

- "Khuddhaka Patha"
O let us live in joy, although having nothing! In joy let us live like spirits of light!

Wandering far, going alone, bodiless, lying in a cave: the mind. Those who restrain it: from Mara's bonds they'll be freed.

- Dhammapada, 3, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

If you seek after truth, you should investigate things in such a way that your consciousness as you investigate is not distracted by what you find, or diffused and scattered; neither is it fixed and set. For the one who is not swayed, there will be a transcending of birth, death, and time. Whether you walk or stand or lie down, Stretch your limbs or draw them in again, Let you do all these things attentively, Above, across, and back again. Whatever your place in the world, Let you be the one who views the movement Of all compounded things with attention.

- Itivuttaka Sutta

When you are thinking about an object, it sometimes occurs that evil, unwholesome thoughts connected with hate and delusion come into your mind. The way to get rid of them is to concentrate on another object that is wholesome and good. Just as a skilled carpenter knocks out a coarse peg with a fine one, so the evil thoughts will disappear. With their departure, the mind will become calm, unified, and concentrated once more.

- Majjhima Nikaya

Even as rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, So lust breaks through an ill-trained mind. Even as rain breaks not through a well-thatched house, So lust breaks not through a well-trained mind.

- Dhammapada 13-14

Due to having many parts there is no unity, There is not anything without parts. Further, without one, there is not many. Also, without existence there is no non-existence.

- Nagarjuna, "Precious Garland

If you students of the Way wish to become Buddhas, you need study no doctrines whatever, but learn only how to avoid seeking for and attaching yourselves to anything.

- Huang Po, "Zen Teaching of Huang Po"
The ultimate way is without difficulty; those who seek it make their own hardship. The true mind is originally pure; those who exercise it make their own defilement.

- Hui-kung