Famous Buddhist quotes encourage millions of people to lead moral lives, to be mindful of their actions, and to develop a deeper sense of wisdom. Buddhism teaches its followers about karma, another way of saying that all actions have results, whether they are positive or negative, and Buddhism asks its followers to examine the wisdom underlying their actions for potential karmic effects. In order to reach Enlightenment, Buddhists work to overcome suffering, cravings, and unfair expectations in order to attain true happiness and contentment. Find a list of quotes below which highlight enlightenment and spirituality, or wisdom and compassion in the face of adversity.
To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.
Before enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water.
Enlightenment is not the byproduct of avoiding the darkness in favor of the light. It is the byproduct of taking the light of consciousness and diving deep into the darkness with it. To make the darkness conscious is to turn the shadow into light.
It is paradoxical, yet true, to say, that the more we know, the more ignorant we become in the absolute sense, for it is only through enlightenment that we become conscious of our limitations. Precisely one of the most gratifying results of intellectual evolution is the continuous opening up of new and greater prospects.
Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment.
No one saves us by but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.
It’s in the entrails of the earth, not on its surface, that you can find diamonds and gold. It’s in going into the darkness that we find enlightenment.
Nirvana or lasting enlightenment or true spiritual growth can be achieved only through persistent exercise of real love.
Ignorance has always been the weapon of tyrants; enlightenment the salvation of the free.
Really, the only thing that makes sense is to strive for greater collective enlightenment.
Your imagination is the vehicle to enlightenment.
The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed a standard citizenry, to put down dissent and originality.
Enlightenment is ego’s ultimate disappointment.
Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead it’s about becoming more fully human. . . It is the end of ignorance.
Enlightenment, joy, and peace can never be given to you by another. The well is inside you.
People only see what they are prepared to see.
Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation.
If one wishes to be sure of the road one treads on, one must close one’s eyes and walk in the dark.
Always keep your mind as bright and clear as the vast sky, the great ocean, and the highest peak, empty of all thoughts. Always keep your body filled with light and heat. Fill yourself with the power of wisdom and enlightenment.
Unity is divinity, purity is enlightenment.
We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.
In my own life I know that my state of cheerfulness is a reliable gauge of my level of spiritual enlightenment at that moment. The more cheerful, happy, contented, and satisfied I am feeling, the more aware I am of my deep connection to Spirit.
One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.
The moment of enlightenment is when a person’s dreams of possibilities become images of probabilities.
We don’t sit in meditation to become good meditators. We sit in meditation so that we’ll be more awake in our lives.
Enlightenment is any experience of expanding our consciousness beyond its present limits. We could also say that perfect enlightenment is realizing that we have no limits at all, and that the entire universe is alive.
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray.
Enlightenment means taking full responsibility for your life.
Enlightenment is the key to everything, and it is the key to intimacy, because it is the goal of true authenticity.
Borrowing knowledge of reality from all sources, taking the best from every study, Science of Mind brings together the highest enlightenment of the ages.
Enlightenment is the journey from the head back to the heart, from words back to silence.
Enlightenment is very possible for the ordinary individual. Actually, it is easier than for someone who thinks that they are special.
Make no mistakes about it – enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of the untruth. It’s seeing through the facade of pretense. It’s the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true.
Enlightenment…is real; and each of us, whoever we are, can in the right circumstances and with the right training realize the nature of mind and so know in us what is deathless and eternally pure. This is the promise of all the mystical traditions of the world, and it has been fulfilled and is being fulfilled in countless thousands of human lives.
Enlightenment is beyond the connection to me and mine; it’s past the illusion that you know who you are. In our world it is considered advantageous to have a positive self-image, but the wisdom of Buddhism is to let go of images altogether. There is a great deal of suffering in self-esteem. It’s nice when it’s around, but it comes and goes, utterly out of our control. This practice is headed in the direction of letting go of everything you think you are. Then you’re doing the same things other people are—eating rice and drinking tea—but you’re beginning to get a taste of what it is like to be free and clear, wholehearted and effortless.
You are destined for enlightenment. Cooperate with your destiny, Don’t go against it, Don’t thwart it. Allow it to fulfill itself.
Enlightenment must come little by little otherwise it would overwhelm.
For one human being to seek enlightenment from another is like a grain of sand on the beach seeking enlightenment from another.
Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you’re being right now.
Words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels.
There are many paths to enlightenment. Be sure to take one with a heart.
All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.
Enlightenment takes place when one lets his innocence emerge and sees nature and life with a childlike awe and respect. The ‘why’ of a child is repeated over and over, causing questions and the never-ending process of discovery.
If we demand enlightenment, it hides. . . . All that we can do is make ourselves enlightenment-prone. We learn to treasure the possibility of awakening in all moments and circumstances. We learn to simplify and cultivate the receptivity of heart that can be touched by profound understanding. We learn to listen deeply and discover stillness amid the movement in our world.
There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own Soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.
You may have expected that enlightenment would come Zap! instantaneous and permanent. This is unlikely. After the first ‘ah ha’ experience, it can be thought of as the thinning of a layer of clouds.
According to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don’t bother you anymore. You become light-hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicities. And this accelerates to the point where you actually experience the miraculous.
Nobody makes anybody enlightened. Just tell them what you want to say, then let them decide for themselves.
There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.
Enlightenement or awakening is not the creation of a new state of affairs but the recognition of what already is.
Enlightenment is man’s release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man’s inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another. Sapere aude! ‘Have courage to use your own reason!’ — that is the motto of enlightenment.
Enlightenment is: absolute cooperation with the inevitable.
To the illumined man or woman, a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same.
Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.
Suffering just means you’re having a bad dream. Happiness means you’re having a good dream. Enlightenment means getting out of the dream altogether.
To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.
Just being the seeker, somebody whose open to spiritual enlightenment, is in itself the important thing and it’s the reward for being a seeker in this world.
The ego tries to convince us that we must do things to achieve enlightenment. The spirit knows that enlightenment is not a matter of doing, but a magnificent consequence of being.
Not every sky will be blue and not every day is springtime. So on the spiritual path a person learns to find this kind of happiness without needing nice things to happen on the outside. Rather, you find happiness by being who you really are. This isn’t mystical. Young children are happy being who they are. The trick is to regain such a state when you are grown and have seen the light and dark sides of life.
Enlightenment is like everyday consciousness but two inches above the ground.
The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.
If we pretend to be more enlightened than we really are, we will miss an opportunity to heal ourselves. Admitting our limitations can make us feel vulnerable, yet it is very freeing. We just have to be ourselves as we are now, accepting the mixture of enlightened awareness and human limitation that is in each of us. Through this self-acceptance, we find a deep peace and self-love.
You are here for no other purpose than to realize your inner divinity and manifest your inner enlightenment.
Enlightenment has nothing to do with physical knowledge. It is the experience of existence. Existence is infinite. There are countless universes and creations taking place simultaneously.
The mind of an enlightened human being is flexible and adaptable. The mind of the ignorant person is conditioned and fixed.
Zen has no gates. The purpose of Buddha’s words is to enlighten others. Therefore Zen should be gateless. But, how does one pass through the gateless gate?
Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.
Enlightenment is not about becoming divine. Instead it’s about becoming more fully human. . . . It is the end of ignorance.
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