Teachings of the Buddha: Pathways to Peace and Compassion

 


  1. Those attached to the notion ‘I am’ and to views roam the world offending people.

  2. There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.

  3. Men, driven on by thirst, run about like a snared hare; let therefore mendicant drive out thirst, by striving after passionlessness for himself.

  4. When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings; when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear.

  5. The instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.

  6. Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.

  7. Should you find a wise critic to point out your faults, follow him as you would a guide to hidden treasure.

  8. As an elephant in the battlefield withstands arrows shot from bows all around, even so shall I endure abuse.

  9. Praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and sorrow come and go like the wind. To be happy, rest like a giant tree in the midst of them all.

  10. In separateness lies the world’s greatest misery; in compassion lies the world’s true strength.

  11. Be a lamp for yourselves. Be your own refuge. Seek for no other. All things must pass. Strive on diligently. Don’t give up.

  12. Better it is to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things.

  13. If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.