Great Throughts Treasury

"Patience means: "If people scold me, I can bear it. If they hit me, I can take it. No matter how badly they treat me, I can endure it.""

"Parents are living Buddhas right in your own home, so don't neglect what is near to seek afar."

"Students of the Buddhadharma should become more energetic, more earnest, more disciplined, and more intelligent each day."

"People have sharp eyes and will see your good points. You don't need to praise yourself."

"Practice of the Way requires perseverance, sincerity, and determination."

"Studying Buddhism is worth more than any amount of money you save up in the bank! In terms of your Dharma body and wisdom life, the Dharma is far more important than money. Don't take worldly wealth so seriously. When you study the Dharma, you amass a wealth of Dharma and meritorous virtue. So, don't look lightly upon this and act in a careless manner."

"The ancient sages always blamed themselves. Modern people, however, look for faults in others instead of acknowledging their own faults."

"Students of Buddhist should treat the study of the Dharma as more important than anything--more important than their studies at school, more important than their business and livelihood."

"The Buddha says you can believe in your God and Buddha too. Your God is like a parent to you, his child. If you do something bad, he forgives you. Buddha has an adult-to-adult relationship with you. If you do something bad, you are accountable for your actions."

"The Dharma is spoken; the Way has to be practiced. In order to derive benefit, you have to actually practice according to the Dharma."

"The Buddha's wisdom and radiance are like the sun, because they shine upon the entire earth, lighting up even the remotest corners of darkness."

"The dumb transmit to the dumb, one is teaching but neither has any idea. The sifu goes to hell. Where will the student end up?"

"The only way we can influence people is to set a good example for them and win their respect for our integrity and values."

"The proper dharmas are: not fighting, not being greedy, not seeking, not being selfish, not wanting personal advantages, and not telling lies. These are known as the Six Great Guidelines. No matter what dharma it is, you may use the Six Guidelines as a yardstick to measure, judge, and contemplate it. If it accords with the six rules, it can be called a proper dharma. If it goes against them, it is a deviant dharma."

"The purpose of studying Buddhadharma is to put an end to birth and death."

"The more you study Buddhism, the more you should understand. You shouldn't become more confused. Recognize the truth and open up your "mine of wisdom.""

"The image of the Buddha on the altar is clearly not a divinity or Sage. It is a representation, an artistic image ... that points back to human who realized the highest wisdom. The Buddha cultivated his nature to an awakened state. The image symbolizes his realization of humanity's potential and aspiration for the highest goodness and compassion. When you bow, symbolically you honor your own potential for great wisdom. Furthermore, bowing is good exercise. It is not idol worship, which is superstitious and passive. Bowing to the Buddha is a practice of a principle; it is dynamic and active."

"The fact of the matter is that praise and blame are a kind of worldly wind. This is what is referred to in the saying, "The eight winds blow but do not move me." What are the eight winds? They are praise, blame, suffering, bliss, gain, loss, slander, and good reputation. If it happens that when one is blown by the eight winds one's mind is shaken, then that's a case of your foundation not having been well laid. What is it that we refer to as the foundation? It's just virtuous conduct. If one's virtuous conduct is insufficient then one's anger is very great and one's ignorance is extremely heavy. If one possesses virtuous conduct then there is no anger at all and ignorance has been transformed into wisdom. Therefore, when we cultivate it's necessary to nurture virtuous conduct."

"The reason we haven't obtained a response in our practice of Buddhism is that we have too many doubts."

"The spirits and immortals of old had no special tricks; they were simply happy as could be, and they never worried." This should be the motto of all cultivators."

"There are no doors to the hells; you yourself make the doors."

"This is my hope for modern Buddhism."

"There aren't any problems that can't be solved in Buddhism."

"To obtain genuine wisdom, we must work hard in our practice and be in accord with the rules."

"Through cultivating the Way, you can increase your wisdom, your resolve for Bodhi, the power of your vows, and everything else."

"We fellow Buddhists should not stir up trouble among ourselves and try to hurt each other."

"We must be clear about cause and effect and not make mistakes in cause and effect. When we come to the temple to bow to the Buddhas, we should not try to gain something for ourselves. We should not be afraid to take a loss. People who come to the temple to steal food, money, or other things will certainly fall into the three evil paths."

"We should not say things that cause people to entertain thoughts of lust. We should not tell improper jokes or engage in frivolous or idle chatter. In general, we should not say the things we are not supposed to say."

"We should know that nothing in the world comes easily; how can we expect a reward when we haven't put in the work?"

"What I stress is genuine merit and real practice, not false publicity."

"What are your treasures? They are your very own Treasury of the Tathagata. If you want to regain your Treasury of the Tathagata, you first have to protect your essence, energy, and spirit."

"When the Buddha spoke Dharma and taught people according to their needs, he was like a physician dispensing the right medicine to each patient. Therefore, one cannot say of any part of his teachings that they are right or wrong per se."

"When a person is proper, he doesn’t have to give people orders and they will follow him of their own accord."

"When you are cultivating the Way and a demonic state appears, if you are the slightest bit not in accord with proper knowledge and views, you will be caught up in deviant views."

"When you no longer make discriminations, your wisdom can appear. Your wisdom will manifest in direct proportion to the degree you have cast out discriminations. In the minds of most people, there are so many discriminations that they entirely fill the field of the eighth consciousness, which is basically pure, with filth and defilements. Once you are rid of all that garbage, your wisdom will appear."

"When your concentration reaches its highest point of being, then, and only then can there be a transformation."

"With this body of yours, you ought to do some work and make a contribution to the world."

"You should all remember: After you take the precepts, never be deceived by such states of confused belief. Even if a Dharma-speaker displays mighty spiritual powers, you should look him over carefully and see if he is greedy. If he is out for money or if he has lust, then he's not genuine. He's a phony."

"You should always maintain an attitude of deep respect and make obeisance to the great Bodhisattvas of the ten directions. For every bit of respect you have, you will gain a bit of response. If you are one hundred percent respectful, you will gain the benefit of a response of one hundred percent."