OTHER QUOTES
a. “Like the swan follows the path of the sun, flying miraculously through the air, so too does the wise man conquer Mara and his train, and rise far above the world.” – Buddha
b. “He who lives looking for pleasures only, his senses uncontrolled, immoderate in his food, idle, and weak: Mara [the tempter] will certainly overthrow him, as the wind throws down a weak tree.” – Buddha
c. “Even though I was endowed with such fortune, such total refinement, the thought occurred to me: 'When an untaught, run-of-the-mill person, himself subject to aging, not beyond aging, sees another who is aged, he is horrified, humiliated, & disgusted, oblivious to himself that he too is subject to aging, not beyond aging. If I — who am subject to aging, not beyond aging — were to be horrified, humiliated, & disgusted on seeing another person who is aged, that would not be fitting for me.' As I noticed this, the [typical] young person's intoxication with youth entirely dropped away." - Sukhamala Sutta (MN 38), translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
d. “My teaching is not a direct philosophy. It is the result of direct experience...my teaching is a means of practice, not something to hold on to or worship. My teaching is like a raft used to cross the river. Only a fool would carry the raft around after he already reached the other shore or liberation” Thich Nhat Hanh
a. “"And what is the middle way realized by the Tathāgata [Buddha] that — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding? Precisely this Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration." - Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion
b. “"There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.”
c. “First of all, Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. If anything at all, it is realistic, for it takes a realistic view of life and the world. It looks at things objectively (yathābhūtam). It does not falsely lull you into living in a fool's paradise, nor does it frighten and agonize you with all kinds of imaginary fears and sins. It tells you exactly and objectively what you are and what the world around you is, and shows you the way to perfect freedom, peace, tranquillity and happiness.” - Walpola Rahula