Inspiring quote!

Buddhist ethical conduct including the Five Precepts (Pañcasikkhāpada), and Eightfold Ethical Conduct (Aṭṭhasīla).
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UDW
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Inspiring quote!

Post by UDW »

I attended my Meditation & Buddhism Class this evening, at my local Wat Phra Dhammakaya Centre, in Newcastle, UK.

Our Teaching Phra gave us a really nice quotation, from Laozi actually, that I thought it would be nice to share:-

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habit.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Isn't that so true!
UDW
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Goofaholix
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Re: Inspiring quote!

Post by Goofaholix »

Yes, though possibly who was quoted as saying it is not true, see http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/01/10 ... -thoughts/
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
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Mkoll
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Re: Inspiring quote!

Post by Mkoll »

Lao Tzu was certainly a very wise man!

:anjali:
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
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UDW
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Re: Inspiring quote!

Post by UDW »

Goofaholix wrote:Yes, though possibly who was quoted as saying it is not true, see http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/01/10 ... -thoughts/
Actually, our Teaching Monk attributed it to Ralph Waldo Emerson, but I forgot his name when I got home; and googled to be told it was Laozi. I went with Laozi on the basis that he existed first. :D

Anyway, whoever said this quote, I thank them. It contains the truth of kamma in itself and as such, I think it's wonderful and good to keep in mind. :)
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ES06
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Re: Inspiring quote!

Post by ES06 »

Was it Buddha or someone else who said about a finger pointing the moon: if someone points the moon, do you watch the moon or the finger?

Wise quotes both, anyway.

:anjali:
SarathW
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Re: Inspiring quote!

Post by SarathW »

A. Transgression (viitikkama) leading to evil bodily and verbal acts. This is checked by the practice of morality, observing the five precepts.

Ie: Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.

B. Obsession or Manifestation (pariyu.t.thaana) when the defilements come to the conscious level and threaten to lead to transgression if not restrained by the practice of mindfulness.

Ie:
Watch your actions; they become habit.
Watch your habits; they become character.

C. Latency (anusaya) where they remain as tendencies ready to surface through the impact of sensory stimuli. Security from the defilements can be obtained only by destroying the three roots — greed, hate and delusion — at the level of latency. This requires insight-wisdom (vipassanaa-paññaa), the decisive liberating factor in Buddhism.

Ie: Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... el322.html
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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Mkoll
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Re: Inspiring quote!

Post by Mkoll »

ES06 wrote:Was it Buddha or someone else who said about a finger pointing the moon: if someone points the moon, do you watch the moon or the finger?

Wise quotes both, anyway.

:anjali:
I first read that one in a Zen book I think. It definitely seems similar to other Zen aphorisms I've heard.
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
culaavuso
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Re: Inspiring quote!

Post by culaavuso »

ES06 wrote:Was it Buddha or someone else who said about a finger pointing the moon: if someone points the moon, do you watch the moon or the finger?

Wise quotes both, anyway.

:anjali:
goodreads.com attributes one version of the quote to Bruce Lee.
Bruce Lee wrote: Its like a finger pointing away to the moon. Dont concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.
EDIT: there appears to be more than one version of this quote, and the similar quote from Hui Neng seems to be significantly older than the Bruce Lee quote:

goodreads.com attributes a related quote to Hui-Neng, the Sixth Patriarch of Chan.
Hui Neng wrote: Truth has nothing to do with words. Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky. Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger can point to the moon’s location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger.
Last edited by culaavuso on Thu Feb 13, 2014 8:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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cooran
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Re: Inspiring quote!

Post by cooran »

Hello all,

Perhaps Osho (leading back to the Upanishads) - in 1972?
http://www.oshorajneesh.com/download/os ... e_Moon.pdf

With metta,
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Re: Inspiring quote!

Post by Babadhari »

Mkoll wrote:Lao Tzu was certainly a very wise man!

:anjali:
lao tzu wrote:
“Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”
Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion.
Aflame, with birth, aging & death, with sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs ......

Seeing thus, the disciple of the Noble One grows disenchanted. SN 35.28
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