Gautama Buddha (circa 560 – 483 B.C.E.), Siddhrtha Gautama in Sanskrit, Siddhattha Gotama in Pali, Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply the Buddha, was a monk, mendicant, sage, philosopher, teacher and religious leader on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the northeastern part of ancient India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries B.C.E. Buddha taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the ramaa movement common in his region. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years after his death.
Quotations attributed to Buddha…
As the great ocean has only one taste, the taste of salt, so my doctrine has only one flavor, the flavor of emancipation.
The slanderer is like one who flings dust at another when the wind is contrary; the dust does but return on him who threw it. The virtuous man cannot be hurt and the misery that the other would inflict comes back on himself.
Let no man think lightly of good, saying in his heart, “It will not benefit me.” As by the falling of raindrops a jar of water is filled, so the wise man becomes full of good, even though he collects it little by little.
I have given you the refreshing drink called the perception of truth, and he who drinks of it becomes free from excitement, passion, and wrong-doing.
The very gods envy the bliss of him who has escaped from the floods of passion and has climbed the shores of Nirvana… He is like unto the lotus which grows in the water, yet not a drop of water adheres to its petals. The man who walks in the noble path lives in the world, and yet his heart is not defiled by worldly desires.
Seeking the way, you must exert yourselves and strive with diligence… free yourselves from the tangled net of sorrow. Walk in the path with steadfast aim. A sick man may be cured by the healing power of medicine and will be rid of all his ailments without beholding the physician.
Delusions, errors, and lies are like huge, gaudy vessels, the timbers of which are faulty, and those who embark on them are asking to be shipwrecked.
The subject on which I meditate is truth. The practice to which I devote myself is truth. The topic of my conversation is truth. My thoughts are always in the truth. For lo! My self has become the truth.
I have severed all ties because I seek deliverance. How is it possible for me to return to the world? He who seeks religious truth, which is the highest treasure of all, must leave behind all that can concern him or draw away his attention, and must be bent upon that one goal alone. He must free his soul from covetousness and lust, and also from the desire for power.
Whatever you do, act always in full presence of mind. Be thoughtful in eating and drinking, in walking or standing, in sleeping or waking, while talking or being silent.