Buddhist Wisdom for Today
Quotes and Teachings from the world of Buddhism and beyond, updated each weekday
Karma is not something complicated or philosophical. Karma means watching your body, watching your mouth, and watching your mind. Trying to keep these three doors as pure as possible is the practice of karma. — Lama Thubten Yeshe. 22 January 2025.
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- As in the sky, all clouds disappear into sky itself: wherever they go, they go nowhere, wherever they are, they are nowhere. This is the same for thoughts in the mind: when the mind looks at mind, the waves of conceptual thought disappear. — Machig Labdrön. 21 January 2025.
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- Karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny. It is more like an accumulation of tendencies that can lock us into particular behavior patterns, which themselves result in further accumulations of tendencies of a similar nature… But is is not necessary to be a prisoner of old karma. — Jon Kabat-Zinn. 20 January 2025.
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- May everything that we are able to accomplish in the form of hearing, contemplating, meditating, and accomplishing the dharma—and any merit and virtue gathered that arises from this—be the basis of happiness and liberation of all sentient beings. — Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche . 17 January 2025.
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- Without exception, every one of us has to die, so what are you going to do with your life? How will you choose to live it? What good will you do for yourself and the world? — Ajahn Anan Akiñcano. 16 January 2025.
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- A world without empathy is a world that is dead to others—and if we are dead to others, we are dead to ourselves. The sharing of another’s pain can take us past the narrow canyon of selfish disregard and even cruelty into the larger, more expansive landscape of wisdom and compassion. — Roshi Joan Halifax. 15 January 2025.
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- Bowing is a very serious practice. You should be prepared to bow, even in your last moment. Even though it is impossible to get rid of our self-centered desires, we have to do it. Our true nature wants us to. — Shunryū Suzuki. 14 January 2025.
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- Dualism is the real root of our suffering and of all of our conflicts. All our concepts and beliefs, no matter how profound they may seem, are like nets which trap us in dualism. When we discover our limits, we have to try to overcome them, untying ourselves, from whatever type of religious, political, or social convictions may condition us. — Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. 13 January 2025
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- May the wisdom of the All-Compassionate One so shine within our hearts and minds, that the mists of error and the foolish vanity of self be dispelled. So shall we understand the changing nature of existence and reach spiritual peace. — Shinran Shonin. 10 January 2025
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- In our life we encounter a multitude of obstacles and difficult circumstances. But the worst possible obstacle is to be prevented from engaging in an authentic path to enlightenment. — Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. 9 January 2025
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- The essence of the Dharma is love and compassion. So by using our energy to practice generosity, keep precepts, practice kshanti and meditation and develop wisdom in all we do is actually all about love and compassion. It is all about fulfilling our Bodhisattva aspiration to deliver all beings from suffering. — Lama Shenpen Hookham. 8 January 2025
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- Potentially, all of us have that seed of enlightenment. But you have to nurture this potentiality and let it grow. We have to nurture our potentiality so that we can be free from suffering, which is caused by our own clinging. — Venerable Dhammananda Bhikkhuni. 7 January 2025
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- Those with deep insight into impermanence, or those of greater wisdom, can awaken to the truth simply by observing the passing of things such as the cycle of flowers blooming and withering. Why have we not awakened and found liberation? Because we fail to understand the transient nature of life. Death is universal—others die, we will die, anyone could die at any moment—this is impermanence. — Master Zhisui. 6 January 2025
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- Even to hear the teachings is something very rare, which only happens once in aeons. That you have met the Dharma now is not just coincidence. It results from your past positive actions. Such an opportunity should not be wasted. If your mind is in accord with Dharma, you will not experience any problems with the things of this life; while if you are constantly preoccupied with your ordinary pursuits, your problems will increase, and nothing will be accomplished. — Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. 3 January 2025
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- The fool waits / For conditions / To be right before / Being happy. / And even then, it is fleeting. — Mahasiddha Tilopa. 2 January 2025
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- Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can. — His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. 31 December 2024
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- It is ridiculous to say “Wait until I finish this, then I will be free to live in peace.” What is “this”? A diploma, a job, a house, the payment of a debt? If you think that way, peace will never come. There is always another “this” that will follow the present one. If you are not living in peace at this moment, you will never be able to. — Thich Nhat Hanh. 30 December 2024
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- When you take a Dharma teaching it is for the purpose of practice. If you don’t do any practice, then the teaching is of no use at all, like a sick person who has received the medicine from the doctor, but who hasn’t taken it. Just keeping the medicine with you won’t cure your illness. The master is like the doctor, the Buddha’s teaching is like the medicine, and we are like the sick person. — Ayang Rinpoche. 27 December 2024
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- We must be diligent today. To wait till tomorrow is too late. Death comes unexpectedly. How can we bargain with it? — The Buddha. 24 December 2024
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- When we encounter doubts on the path of enlightenment, we should return to our original source. As Shakyamuni Buddha was asked before entering Nirvana: “We can always rely on the Buddha when you are with us in this world, but if the Buddha should enter Nirvana, on whom should we rely?” The Buddha answered: “Rely on the Dharma, not the person.” — Master Jingben. 23 December 2024
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- First, inhale all the obstacles, difficulties, and adversities with your breath. Let them hit your feeling of self-importance like cannonballs until it crumbles like dust. Then enjoy the freedom and lightness of being liberated from the prison of ego-clinging. — Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche. 20 December 2024
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- Awareness is the nature of our mind and is not deceived by the world of illusion or display. When mind is deceived, we are deluded, ignorant of our true nature; this is the foundation of samsara, of conflict and suffering. The other side is the awareness or enlightened mind which sounds very grand but is very simple. Each moment is a tipping point—each moment we decide whether or not to be enlightened and free! — Anam Thubten Rinpoche. 19 December 2024
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- Every day, priests minutely examine the Dharma / And endlessly chant complicated sutras. / Before doing that, though, they should learn / How to read the love letters sent by the wind and rain, the snow and moon. — Ikkyū Sōjun. 18 December 2024
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- The doctrine of the Buddha is taught with reference to two truths—conventional truth and ultimate truth. Those who do not understand the difference between these two truths do not understand the profound essence of the doctrine of the Buddha. — Nāgārjuna. 17 December 2024
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- All other foes that I appease and wait upon, will show me favors, give me every aid. But should I serve my dark, defiled emotions, they will only harm me, draw me down to grief. — Shantideva. 16 December 2024
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- One of the greatest blocks to loving kindness is our own sense of unworthiness. If we leave ourselves out of the circle of love and compassion, we have misunderstood. — Jack Kornfield. 13 December 2024
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- Though the moon shines all over the world Leaving no corner in darkness, Only those who gaze upon the moon Appreciate its serene light. — Hōnen Shōnin. 12 December 2024
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- People have a lot of resistance to seeing themselves honestly. But the point of being a Dharma practitioner is to joyfully and universally look at ourselves. To look at ourselves universally means to see that everyone is like us. — Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. 11 December 2024
