Quotes about dharma

Religion has to be protected difference of opinion is not to be protected.

The Buddha’s dharma didn’t teach peace and relaxation it taught awakening—often rude awakening.

Where there is no peace there is not the slightest religion there.

Now I know what success is: living your truth, sharing it.

If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?

Dharma is something that one discovers, because one cannot create something that is already there.

One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.

Dharma is not about believing in God. It’s about making the right choices, doing the right things and leading the right life.

When the mind is exhausted of images, it invents its own.

In India, we have a saying: 'Always look down, never look up," he said. "When you are trying to determine where you stand in life, don't look upward at the rich people, the people with everything. Look downward at the people who have nothing, those begging on the street, those living in the slums. There's no end to looking up and feeling badly. And if you try to spit upward it only falls down upon your own face. Only by looking down do you understand your dharma.

​Dharma or Ethics and Morals are the Fundamental Set of Rules created for those who want to Play the Game, by those who are Inside the Game.

Because of the Dharma, my mind was more free in prison than worldly people experience in the best of circumstances.

Not till your thoughts cease all their branching here and there, not till you abandon all thoughts of seeking for something, not till your mind is motionless as wood or stone, will you be on the right road to the Gate.

Whatever human endeavor we choose, as long as we live our truth, it is success.

A Writer is Actor, Creator, Director & Producer Of HIS Life. Ask ME anything.

A person acquainted with the true principles of this science, who preserves his Dharma (virtue or religious merit), his Artha (worldly wealth) and his Kama (pleasure or sensual gratification), and who has regard to the customs of the people, is sure to obtain the mastery over his senses. In short, an intelligent and knowing person attending to Dharma and Artha and also to Kama, without becoming the slave of his passions, will obtain success in everything that he may do.

Activities such as chanting, bowing, and sitting in zazen are not at all wasted, even when done merely formally, for even this superficial encounter with the Dharma will have some wholesome outcome at a later time. However, it must be said in the most unambiguous terms that this is not real Zen. To follow the Dharma involves a complete reorientation of one's life in such a way that one's activities are manifestations of, and are filled with, a deeper meaning. If it were not otherwise, and merely

Part of why I love these angry, straight, white punks is that they are stripping the dharma of its bullshit, and applying it to contexts and styles that, even if they aren’t mine, are at least different from the norm.

We are animals descended from five billion years of wanting, striving, and seeking. And life just doesn’t cooperate. So we suffer. And so the solution to that problem is to upgrade our minds, in a distinctly ‘unnatural’ way, so that the mind clings less and lets go more.

Sometimes, sitting there on the cushion failing to watch your breath, it can feel like you’re the only weirdo weird enough to be wasting your time in this way. But you’re not! There are generations of weirdos, monasteries full of them, and we have the benefit of their accumulated wisdom.

It is possible to refine awareness itself so much that the emptiness of things, and the role mental construction plays, becomes a directly apprehended reality.

At the last stages of the journey, there’s no journey at all.

All relaxation does is allow the truth to be felt. The mind is cleared, like a dirty window wiped clean, and the magnitude of what we might ordinarily take for granted inspires tears.

There’s no path to liberation that doesn’t pass through the shadow.

What a miracle, that all we have to do to be beautifully loving creatures is just relax and allow.

When a builder builds he clears the ground for his new foundations. Then he sees that the basic structure will support the whole. Should we not also clear the mind - at least that part of it that we can reach - of the ruins of past thinking, before building our palace of dharma which will one day reach the sky.

Dharma is precisely this 'discipline of ordered existence', a 'belief system that restrains and gives coherence to desires.

How did I get 'IT'? - By crying, begging, yelping! - Any of this helping?

Whole world is not looking for religion, it is looking for its own safe side.

That what keeps us supported is dharma (religion).

Where there is religion (religious following), there are no worries and where there are worries, there is no religion there.

Where slightest of conflict exists, there is neither God nor Religion.

In a Zen retreat we have a format for working with these quicksilver changes: we sit with them, we pay attention to them... Being steady with mindfulness as an anchor for all the changes we go through is the way we practice forbearance. And you can employ this same method anywhere anytime: just pay close attention to the details of what is going on internally and externally. Don't flinch, don't run away. Trust what happens. Take your stand there." (71)

What is the nature of the Self (Soul)? To ‘see’ the dharma (function) of everything, to see ‘who is performing what function, and how that function is being performed.’ To ‘see’ it, is called the function of the Self (Soul).

Dharma (function or properties) of the mind, dharma of the intellect, dharma of the chit, dharma of the ego – when all these dharma and the dharma of the Self (Soul) come into their own dharma (functions); that is known as Gnan (Knowledge of Self). And if we (self) insist upon any one’s dharma; it becomes ignorance (agnan).

Wherever there is kashay, there is no religion of the Vitarag at all. God does not want one to renounce anything. One needs to become free from kashays. Kashay-free state is considered the religion of moksha, while renouncing is considered religion of the world.

As long as this belief, ‘I am the doer’ is not gone, one has not yet attained an iota of exact religion. He is still in the auspicious-inauspicious [shubh-ashubh] state.

Religion [dharma] originates where there is doer-ship [to do], Moksha [ultimate liberation] originates where there is understanding (to understand).

That which frees one from bondage is the right religion.

Religion [dharma] is that where there is no irreligion (adharma, immorality). Religion cannot exist where there is irreligion. There can be only one or the other. Behind every intention, there is either [the force of] religion or [the force of] irreligion.

That which reduces our flawed vision is called religion [dharma]. It is non-religion [adharma] that increases a flawed vision. The worldly life is indeed the result of a flawed vision.

What does religion say? It says that if you care for others then you will meet others who will care for you and if you hit others, you will meet others who will hit you. This is what all relative religions say.

Only one kind of religion cannot give peace to everyone. Whatever ‘degree’ one is sitting at, that ‘degree’ of religion he requires.

Religion (Dharma) begins with an obliging nature.

One’s Use of Life’, if turns into worldly selfishness is called adharma (irreligion), and if it turns into spiritual selfishness (towards true self) is called dharma (religion).

Religion (dharma) is decrease in kashay (anger, pride, deceit and greed) and increase of kashay is irreligion (adharma). When Kashay goes away (completely) is the religion of the Self (Soul).

To eat, drink, arise, awake etc. are all religion (dharma) of the body. One has not come into one’s own Self Religion (atma dharma) even for a second. Had he done so, he would never ever leave God.

This is what the path of Dharma is like. It's not that you have to do all the practices. It is sufficient to take just one of them, whichever one you really have an affinity with, and through practicing that one alone, for the rest of your life, you will achieve enlightenment. Whichever practice you choose doesn't matter; they are all valid methods for achieving enlightenment—if you practice. The key is to practice with diligence for the rest of your life.

Maturity is about Challenging yourself and Improving!And then taking that experience to help others...

The Buddha's original teaching is essentially a matter of four points -- the Four Noble Truths:1. Anguish is everywhere.2. We desire permanent existence of ourselves and for our loved ones, and we desire to prove ourselves independent of others and superior to them. These desires conflict with the way things are: nothing abides, and everything and everyone depends upon everything and everyone else. This conflict causes our anguish, and we project this anguish on those we meet.3. Release from ang

Of course, even when you see the world as a trap and posit a fundamental separation between liberation of self and transformation of society, you can still feel a compassionate impulse to help its suffering beings. In that case you tend to view the personal and the political in a sequential fashion. "I'll get enlightened first, and then I'll engage in social action." Those who are not engaged in spiritual pursuits put it differently: "I'll get my head straight first, I'll get psychoanalyzed, I'l

After all, people desire immortality and do not wish to embrace the inescapable reality of death; they long for happiness and shy away from the contemplation of pain; they want to preserve their sense of self, not desconstruction it into fleeting and impersonal components. It is counterintuitive to accept that deathlessness is experienced each moment we are released from the deathlike grip of greed and hatred; that happiness in this world is only possible for those who realized that this world i

I have found that we need to maintain relationships with all spheres of society: the local community, politicians from all parties, business leaders, artists, and farmers....We don't favor one kind of person over another, or one political party over another...My goal is for them to use the method and concept of Chan practice to benefit their work and their organizations....That is our duty.

The entire teaching of Buddhism can be summed up in this way: Nothing is worth holding on to.

Impermanence and selflessness are not negative aspect of life, but the very foundation on which life is built. Impermanence is the constant transformation of things. Without impermanence, there can be no life. Selflessness is the interdependent nature of all things. Without interdependence, nothing could exist.

Suppose a man threw into the sea a yoke with one hole in it, and the east wind carried it to the west, and the west wind carried it to the east, and the north wind carried it to the south, and the south wind carried it to the north. Suppose there were a blind turtle that came up once at the end of each century. What do you think, bhikkhus? Would that blind turtle put his neck into that yoke with one hole in it?""He might, venerable sir, sometime or other at the end of a long period.""Bhikkhus, t

Dharma practice means physical hardship; it means that you shouldn't be pansies about it. You should exert yourselves wholeheartedly to engage in the practice, so that it will affect your body, speech, and mind.

In the first movement, our infancy as a species, we felt no separation from the natural world around us. Trees, rocks, and plants surrounded us with a living presence as intimate and pulsing as our own bodies. In that primal intimacy, which anthropologists call "participation mystique," we were as one with our world as a child in the mother's womb.Then self-consciousness arose and gave us distance on our world. We needed that distance in order to make decisions and strategies, in order to measur

The aim of far too many teachings these days is to make people "feel good," and even some Buddhist masters are beginning to sound like New Age apostles. Their talks are entirely devoted to validating the manifestation of ego and endorsing the "rightness" of our feelings, neither of which have anything to do with the teachings we find in the pith instructions. So, if you are only concerned about feeling good, you are far better off having a full body massage or listening to some uplifting or life

The Chinese ideograph for forbearance is a heart with a sword dangling over it, another instance of language's brilliant way of showing us something surprising and important fossilized inside the meaning of a word. Vulnerability is built into our hearts, which can be sliced open at any moment by some sudden shift in the arrangements, some pain, some horror, some hurt. We all know and instinctively fear this, so we protect our hearts by covering them against exposure. But this doesn't work. Cover

Everyone can only succeed with their own Dharma.

Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

Don’t worry, eventually everything falls into its rightful place.

Never sit under a tree waiting for the apple to fall. Climb the tree, grab that apple!When it comes, never be inert and take your time, TIME TO MOVE!

Do what helps others. Refrain from harming others. Transcend your own ignorance, clinging, hate, fear and delusion. This and only this is the dispensation of all the Buddhas.

Despite the many occasions when its characters feel frustrated before the weight of circumstances, and despite blaming their feeling of impotence on daiva, 'fate', moral autonomy shines through in the epic. Because they have some freedom to choose they can be praised when they follow dharma or blamed when they follow adharma. At the moment of making a decision they become conscious of their freedom, and it is this perception of autonomy that gives them the ability to lead authentic moral lives.

Dharma is found because one cannot create what is already there.

Dharma is something that one discovers because one cannot create something that is already there.

What makes an action positive or negative? Not how it looks, not whether it is big or small, but it is the positive or negative motivation that is behind it. No matter how many teachings that you have heard, to be motivated by ordinary concerns, such as a desire for greatness, fame or whatever, is not the way of the true Dharma.

सक्ताः कर्मण्यविद्वांसो यथा कुर्वन्ति भारत।कुर्याद्विद्वांस्तथासक्तश्चिकीर्षुर्लोकसंग्रहम्॥॥३- २५॥न बुद्धिभेदं जनयेदज्ञानां कर्मसङ्गिनाम्।जोषयेत्सर्वकर्माणि विद्वान्युक्तः समाचरन्॥॥३- २६॥`Ignorant toil for result; wise – selflessly,Blaze the trail for detached action clearly,For the common weal, path to eternity,For the benefit of the entire humanity.’3. 25-26

There is no dharma greater than a word uttered by a man of conscience; there is no karma greater than a man listening to himself! Since an intention precedes action, it should be the reference point for any action.

This stuff of a past not worthily lived is also medicine.

शान्ताकारं भुजगशयनं पद्मनाभं सुरेशं विश्वाधारं गगनसदृश्यं मेघवर्णं शुभाङ्गम्।लक्ष्मीकान्तं कमलनयनं योगिभिर्ध्यानगम्यं वन्दे विष्णु भवभयहरं सर्वलोकैकनाथम्।I bow to Vishnu, Master of Universe unquestionably,Who rests on great serpent bed, peaceful perpetually,From His navel sprouts Lotus of Creative Power surely,He the Supreme Lord of cosmos undeniably does be.- 146 - He supports the entire universe and all-pervading be,He dark as clouds with beautiful Lakshmi form glowingly,He the lotus-eyed, wh

BASIC LIFE ATTRIBUTESFour purusharthas or goals of the life be,So very crystal clear in life undisputedly;1Artha getting useful wealth and prosperity,Finding the meaning for living herein truly;2Kama fulfilling desires, acting repeatedly,It the physical, material desire fulfillment be;14Dharma – the foundation of all human goals be,Refers to obligations, conduct, moral duties;25Moksha – the liberation from the web of maya be,Freedom from the cycles of birth and death clearly;33As all the rivers

Finally there are those who saw at once that the question was a trap. There is no answer. Instead of wasting time grappling with that trap. They decide to act. They look to their childhood and look for what filled them with enthusiasm then and disregarding the advice of their elders, devote their life to it. Because enthusiasm is the sacred fire. They slowly discover, their actions are linked to a mysterious impulse beyond human knowledge. And they bow their heads as a sign of respect for that m

Dharma – the foundation of all human goals be,Refers to obligations, conduct, moral duties;- 25 -

While happiness is an end in itself, it is also the state of mind we can have right now.

Don't always use PAIN that you receive as an excuse to GIVE PAIN...