Could any of us claim to have started a journey unto greatness at age 29? More importantly, could any of us point at that age and claim that moment in our life marked the beginning of the most beneficial and humane philosophical movement ever known?
I doubt it.
So it is with sincere deference that I draw your attention to a prince who lived millennia ago. His name was Siddhartha Gotama, and he was the son of King Suddhodana and Queen Maya of the ancient Shakya nation. The young prince would later be known as the Buddha.
Before his thirtieth birthday, he ventured out from the palace and turned his back on a life of luxury. It marked the beginning of one man’s journey that would become a search for truth. Thankfully, he found it.
Through homelessness and famine, suffering and pain, Siddhartha continually walked away from a royal existence so that he might experience the world and grow to understand the difference between that which is important and that which we humans call important. Knowing the distinction to be critical, his quest eventually would lead him to a multitude of great insights.
That all things are impermanent, that all beings suffer, that all life is worthy of respect, that only experience can ultimately prove the veracity of any scripture and that such scriptures should never be blindly accepted, that enlightenment is the greatest of quests, that nothing exists alone and that all things are connected, and that kindness is the greatest and truest religion… These are the most important of the canons he set forth after a life of poverty and want.
His wanderings in search of an end to suffering achieved a goal even he could not have imagined. By giving birth to Buddhism, he laid the foundation for humanity’s single greatest belief system.
No faith, no creed, no dogma, and no religion before or since can make such a claim… at least not honestly.
I said all this because I wanted to share a raft of quotes from the Buddha that I think worthy of your time and contemplation. So here they are in no particular order:
“When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble.”
“The life of the homeless one is as the open air of heaven!”
“In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.”
“How long will it take humankind to learn to be truly humane and kind to every human and every other being? Hatred can never cease by hatred. Hatred can only cease by love. This is an eternal law.”
“Doubt everything. Find your own light.”
“It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.”
“All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.”
“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”
“Days & nights are relentlessly passing; how well are we using our time?”
“Be not misled by reports or tradition or common opinion. Be not misled by proficiency in the scriptures, nor by speculation and conclusions, nor by attractive theories and favorite ideas, nor by impressions of personal merits (of the teacher) and not by the authority of some master.”
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.”
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”
“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.”
“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
“He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.”
“Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.”
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
“In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.”
“Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.”
“It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.”
“Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”
“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.”
“May all that have life be delivered from suffering.”
“All beings tremble before violence. All fear death, all love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?”
“Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.”
“One is not a great one because one defeats or harms other living beings. One is so called because one refrains from defeating or harming other living beings.”
[and no, I’m not a Buddhist although I do play one on TV; seriously, I respect the philosophy and find it the only belief system completely worthy of admiration, although likewise I can find tiny bits and pieces from other philosophies and faiths about which I could say good things]