Did Buddha Really Say This?

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
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fragrant herbs
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Did Buddha Really Say This?

Post by fragrant herbs »

I read in a novel that Buddha said, "You are Gods yourself." Did he really say this? If so, where? Thanks.
Laurens
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Re: Did Buddha Really Say This?

Post by Laurens »

fragrant herbs wrote:I read in a novel that Buddha said, "You are Gods yourself." Did he really say this? If so, where? Thanks.
I've never personally heard such a quote. But I cannot be 100% sure - having not read the entire Pali canon. To me it seems unlikely.

Which book was it in and in what context was the quote given?
"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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tiltbillings
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Re: Did Buddha Really Say This?

Post by tiltbillings »

fragrant herbs wrote:I read in a novel that Buddha said, "You are Gods yourself." Did he really say this? If so, where? Thanks.
Which novel by whom?

Did the Buddha say that? Not in any of the early recorded traditions available.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
enkidu
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Re: Did Buddha Really Say This?

Post by enkidu »

In a lot of fiction, novels, movies and so on, many sensational and false things are said about or on behalf of the Buddha.
Mawkish1983
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Re: Did Buddha Really Say This?

Post by Mawkish1983 »

Welcome to Dhamma Wheel, Fragrant Herbs :)
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Did Buddha Really Say This?

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Possible a very poor translation of Dhammapada v 160:
Attā hi attano nātho, ko hi nātho paro siyā.
Attanā hi sudantena, nāthaṃ labhati dullabhaṃ.

Oneself is one’s own refuge, what other refuge could there be?
With oneself well controlled one obtains a refuge hard to gain.
Nātha can also be translated as Lord or Master, so you are the Lord of yourself, you are your own master. There is no Lord or God who is your master. In other words, you alone are responsible for your own happiness and sorrow, and master of your own destiny.
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fragrant herbs
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Re: Did Buddha Really Say This?

Post by fragrant herbs »

Thanks for the welcome.

Thanks for the answers. I read it in Angels and Demons but have heard it for years, and when I went to look it up the only other person that said it was Sai Baba.
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