While studying Buddhism you will come across some quotes you will be sure you have heard somewhere before. Life is cyclic, keep that in mind. You might be right. And according to Buddhism, it is due to the memories we have from past lives.
Baby Steps
“One moment can change a day, one day can change a life and one life can change the world.”
Whatever transformation you want to happen, whatever difference you want to make, it won’t happen immediately. Give one small step towards the right path, it will be like laying the first brick to build a shelter. There wouldn’t be anything to build if it was not for that little expressive start.
How to find happiness
“A man asked Gautama Buddha, ‘I want happiness.’ Buddha said, ‘First remove I, that’s Ego, then remove want, that’s Desire. See now you are left with only Happiness.’ ”
The Buddha made it really clear that there is no happiness if it is only individual. Our happiness is bound to all beings’ happiness too.
He also showed that desire is not a substantial feeling to be connected with such a precious thing like happiness. It has to be deserved, conquered, otherwise it will be confused with pleasure and therefore doomed to end.
And the most amazing teaching from that encounter is to drop everything. Happiness is already there, and is what remains when you set your focus on humankind.
Perishable gains
“There is no fear for one whose mind is not filled with desires.”
Desire is answered with the pleasure of being met or the disappointment when it is not. Sooner or later, disappointment will happen anyway because pleasure is not everlasting. It eventually turns to pain.
Picture the pleasure you feel from having an ice cream to an orgasm. If you picture it neverending, pleasure will become pain. You may want to be fun and say you can take it, but a nice relaxing massage will become torture if there is no end to it.
If we are driven by desire, we will always be in fear: fear of not achieving it, fear of it having an end, or fear that it will become pain.
Gratitude
“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”
There is always something to be grateful for. If a 17 fl oz bottle has 8.5 fl oz, be grateful for it being half full. Be grateful there is a bottle. Be grateful if you could pay for it or even for holding it. Just be grateful.
When you feel a little upset for cleaning or doing laundry, as you do it, be thankful you have clothes, be thankful you have a place to clean (if it is rent, be thankful you can afford it). Just find something to be thankful for.
Question everything
“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
This is one of the most important aspects of Buddhism to combat dogmas. Don´t believe things just because someone said so. Experience it and reach your own conclusion. Or check if it is in accordance with your beliefs. Whatever you choose, don’t underestimate yourself.
Ties that kill
“The root of suffering is attachment.”
If a loved one dies, we will feel the pain, the sadness, and we will grieve. But holding on to it, questioning why a perishable recipient has perished leads to suffering. This is not healthy and keeps us away from enlightenment.
Thinking of quantum physics, a deceased loved one could be in the fresh breeze that caresses your face as you walk along the ocean.
Do as you say
“Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words are fruitless in a man who does not act in accordance with them.”
When it comes to teaching the good path, it has to be intimately related to the messenger being the teaching itself. Your life should be an example of what you preach, what you teach, the alignment of the talk and the walk
Sharing what is good
“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
I love the metaphor used in this quote because the image it conjures is beautiful. You can imagine a whole dark room being illuminated by one tiny candle that lights all others.
Happiness is contagious. There is a video on YouTube that shows a man on the subway. He is staring at his cellphone wearing headphones and he bursts out laughing, as if no one was looking. People start looking at each other and they start smiling as well.
The damages of anger
“You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.”
Buddhists themselves have a few tales to explain the danger of anger. One is of how a person holding onto anger is equivalent to holding a burning piece of coal. Before launching it at someone, if will have burned their hands.
Another story compares anger to a person throwing ash at someone. At the end of the day, the white shirt they are wearing is dark, while the object of their anger might not have been struck by the ashes.
One tip to controlling your anger is to write down if you are upset with someone or something. Write down everything you are feeling, or everything you would like to say. Once you are finished, read it and burn it to let go of it from your heart. As time passes, you won’t feel that need anymore.
Unity
“Love is a gift of one’s innermost soul to another, so both can be whole.”
There is not much to be said about this quote. According to Buddhism we are all unit, as such we will always feel this need for others. However, this is not being dependent. The other is not oxygen. The other is the missing piece that fits you in the marvellous puzzle of life. You might discover that you too are one of those pieces for others. That discovery is ultimately amazing.
