buddhist-monks

"The people of today all turn their backs upon what is right; to a person, they give their allegiance to evil."

"In judging the relative merit of Buddhist doctrines, I, Nichiren, believe that the best standards are those of reason and documentary proof. And even more valuable than reason and documentary proof is the proof of actual fact."

"If we do not admonish the evil priests, how can we hope to do good?"

"The compassion in the Path of Pure Land is to quickly attain Buddhahood, saying the nembutsu, and with the true heart of compassion and love save all beings completely as we desire."

""If you meet a Buddha, kill him. If you meet a patriarch of the law, kill him." This is a well-known Zen motto. If Buddhism is divided generally into the sects that believe in salvation by faith and those that believe in salvation by one's own efforts, then of course there must be such violent utterances in Zen, which insists upon salvation by one's own efforts. On the other side, the side of salvation by faith, Shinran, the founder of the Shin sect, once said: "The good shall be reborn in paradise, and how much more shall it be so with the bad." This view of things has something in common with Ikkyu's world of the Buddha and world of the devil, and yet at heart the two have their different inclinations. Shinran also said: "I shall not take a single disciple." "If you meet a Buddha, kill him. If you meet a patriarch of the law, kill him." "I shall not take a single disciple." In these two statements, perhaps, is the rigorous fate of art."

"True faith necessarily entails Amida's name, but Amida's name does not necessarily entail faith, [which is derived] from the power of [Amida's] vow."

"The Buddha, therefore, took for granted the Vedic cosmic geography wherein all these natural and supernatural beings lived. It is no wonder then that the anthology Subhāitaratnakoa of Vidyākara (c. 1100) a Buddhist abbot at the monastery of Jagaddala in present-day Bangladesh, has 20 verses to the Buddha, but 73 to Śiva, and 40 to Visnu."

"I bow down to and go for refuge in the glorious sublime master and all the glorious accomplished ones. Please accept us with your great love at all times. I bow down to the dharmadhātu, the ground which is devoid of all relative conceptual labeling, which is the ultimate, the thoroughly established1. I bow down to the ground which is free from all kinds of thought, the unconditioned self-arisen wisdom."

"Auspicious – what dwells in the heart of all sentient beings, The selfness of all, the highest lord of all lineages, The producer of sentient beings without exception, great bliss, In that way, may auspiciousness bring peace to you today! Auspicious – what in the triple world is pure form, Formless, good form, and form free of subtle particles, Indivisible with all living beings, Buddha Nature good in that way, May its auspiciousness bring peace to you today! Auspicious – what takes form resembling eight prognostic images, Form that is indestructible like space, free of beginning, end and middle, Referenced as shunyata, Buddha Nature good in that way, May its auspiciousness bring peace to you today!"

"Dolpopa Sherab Gyeltsen was born in 1292, in the Dolpo region of present-day Nepal. He took ordination as a novice monk in 1304 and spent the following years studying the tantras of the Nyingma tradition. In 1309 he traveled to Mustang to study the treatises on the vehicle of the perfections, epistemology, and abhidharma... In the year 1321, when he was twenty-nine years old, Dolpopa ascended to the monastic seat (gdan sa) of Sakya Monastery... The Karmapa significantly prophesied that Dolpopa would quickly become even more expert in the view and practice... Yonten Gyatso convinced Dolpopa to teach in the assembly at Jonang, and also taught him many more systems of esoteric knowledge, such as Lamdre, the Five Stages (rim lnga) of the Guhyasamāja and the Cakrasaṃvara, Zhije and Chod... [After he passed, his] ...body was placed in a wooden casket anointed with perfume and adorned with silk and precious ornaments, and put inside the crematorium...When the cremation began, the smoke rose only a few feet and then streaked to the stupa, circled it many times, and finally disappeared to the west. The men and women practitioners offered butter lamps on the roofs of their individual meditation huts, so that the entire valley sparkled... each of them made prayers with tears flowing down their faces."

"Alas, my share of good fortune may be inferior, but I think a discovery such as this is good fortune... My intelligence has not been refined in three-fold knowledge, but I think the raising of Mount Meru has caused the ocean to gush forth. I bow in homage to the masters, buddhas, and kalkis, by whose kindness the essential points, difficult for even exalted beings to realize, are precisely realized, and to their great stupa."

"Neither gods nor men can forsee when an evil deed will bear its fruit."

"Many roads lead to the Path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice."

"The essence of the Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances."

"To find a buddha, you have to see your nature. Whoever sees his nature is a buddha. If you don't see your nature, invoking buddhas, reciting sutras, making offerings, and keeping precepts are all useless. Invoking buddha's results in good karma, reciting sutras results in a good memory; keeping precepts results in a good rebirth, and making offerings results in future blessings–but no buddha."

"達磨面壁。二祖立雪斷臂云。弟子心未安。乞師安心。 磨云。將心來。與汝安。 祖云。覓心了不可得。 磨云。為汝安心竟。"

"舉梁武帝問達摩大師：「如何是聖諦第一義？」 摩雲：「廓然無聖！」 帝曰：「對朕者誰？」 摩雲：「不識。」 帝不契，達摩遂渡江至魏。"

"Seeing through the mundane and witnessing the sublime is less than an eye-blink away. Realization is now. Why worry about gray hair?"

"Unless they see their nature, how can people call themselves buddhas? They're liars who deceive others into entering the realm of devils. Unless they see their nature, their preaching of the Twelve-fold Canon is nothing but the preaching of devils. Their allegiance is to Mara, not to the Buddha. Unable to distinguish white from black, how can they escape birth and death?"

"The first Patriarch in China came from the west to the eastern lands at the instruction of the Venerable Prajñātara. For the three years of frosts and springs during that ocean voyage, how could the wind and snow have been the only miseries? Through how many formations of cloud and sea-mist might the steep waves have surged? He was going to an unknown country: ordinary beings who value their body and life could never conceive [of such a journey]. This must have been maintenance of the practice realized solely from the great benevolent will to transmit the Dharma and save deluded emotional beings. It was so because the transmission of Dharma is [Bodhidharma] himself; it was so because the transmission of Dharma is the entire Universe; it was so because the whole Universe in ten directions is the real state of truth; it was so because the whole Universe in ten directions is [Bodhidharma] himself; and it was so because the whole Universe in ten directions is the whole Universe in ten directions."

"Trying to find a buddha or enlightenment is like trying to grab space. Space has a name but no form. It's not something you can pick up or put down. And you certainly can't grab it. Beyond this mind you'll never see a buddha. The buddha is a product of your mind. Why look for a buddha beyond this mind?"

"From a political point of view, all the Panchen Erdeni lineage-holders have proved to be lovers of the Motherland and promoting and protecting the unity of the Motherland, promoting friendly relations between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples and promoting unity among the Tibetan people themselves. Such manifestations of their great achievements are recorded in history, of which the accounts might be narrated one by one like counting the beads of a rosary."

"All the successive Panchen reincarnations had turned out to be profoundly learned and great proponents of Buddhism, inspiring deep faith and reverence from all - lay and ecclesiastical, male or female - thus attaining religious pre-eminence as protectors of Buddhism."

"Whether viewed from the perspective of Tibet or from the perspective of the monasteries as centres for the preservation and promotion of Tibetan people's culture or from the perspective of the Tibetan people's deep religious faith and attachment to spiritual values, the destruction of the monasteries and the holy artefacts therein, these have all been systematically perpetrated under Leftist policies towards religion. This is a total mistake committed both at the level of the collective and at the level of the individuals concerned. There is no doubt whatsoever that evil consequences will follow as a result of such mistakes"

"If we look back at the history of Tibet, we see that Tibet suffered as a result of breakdown of unity since the reign of King Lang Tharma. If we are united, the Tibetan nationality will progress and Buddhism will flourish. On the other hand, if we are divided, Buddhism and the Tibetan nationality will suffer set back. Our people will also suffer misery. Therefore, I would like to request all of you to shun divisive attitude. The monasteries also should not talk in terms of you and us."

"Democratic life is not fully established; as regards the various nationality rights which should be protected by law, these have not been implemented strictly in accordance with the law. There are, among the cadres, people who are ―big nationalists. The think that they are terrific, they are proud, complacent and opinionated, they favour their own nationality and ignore the characteristics of the Tibetan nationality, they violate the rights of the Tibetans and even forcefully label those who mention the rights and interests of the Tibetans as ―local nationalists."

"The rebellion in Tibet was started by a few who had no sense of timing and were completely ignorant of politics and military strategy. If you really want to fight a war, you have to have a sense of timing. You should be sufficiently powerful. You should know your own might and that of your enemy. Without these elements you cannot hope to win a war. You cannot fight a war with a few outdated rifles. The rebels of that time were ridiculously naive. However, if something like that happened in the event of a foreign invasion, then it would be a serious matter for our nation. That is why it is essential to think about the welfare of the minority nationalities during peacetime."

"Tibetans are the legitimate masters of Tibet. The wishes and feelings of the people of Tibet must be respected."

"Although there may be peace and stability today, many minor disturbances will occur. But it is good to think about the entire problem. There is at the moment racial harmony, peace and stability. But we should not be satisfied with this. What are we going to do if there are disturbances in the future?"

"We should make sure that the people of these nationalities are happy as part of the motherland. If this happens, they will be happy to work with the Chinese people in developing the nation. On the other hand, if you cling to the attitude that you will always rule and suppress the minority nationalities, then there will be serious problems in the future."

"In the past, when we were suppressed under the leftist policy, none of us dared utter a word of protest. It is not good to open uphold wounds now that happier times are coming. If we are all united, Tibet will progress and our nationality will join the circle of developed nationalities. Our region will then be as developed as any other region in the Great Motherland. We will also be successful in our efforts to promote the Buddhist religion. I request all of you to keep this in your mind."

"It was very important on the foundation of enhancing the class consciousness of the masses, to thoroughly and conscientiously carry out overall investigation and review, to provide relief for those households which have run out of grain, not to allow the masses to go hungry, and for those households which have grain not to have to hand it over as collective grain without reason."

"When Buddhism in Tibet has firm foundations in terms of the transmission of teachings and of enlightenment, the deliberate destruction of this religion must not happen, is very serious and bad. For example, people become old and then they die. This is a universal law. But what if you took a very loveable, much in demand, vigorous and innocent youth and deliberately put him to death? In just the same way, this is the reason why we, all the people of Tibet, feel that it is unendurable that Buddhism has suffered such a huge decline that it is near extinction."

"The expense of keeping one Chinese in Tibet is equal to that of keeping four in China. Why should Tibet spend its money to feed them? Instead, we should think carefully on how best the money can be used for the development of Tibet. Tibet has suffered greatly because of the policy of sending a large number of useless migrants. The Chinese population in Tibet started with a few thousand and today it has multiplied manifold. That is the reason why many old Chinese personnel who worked very hard in the initial period are left without any career now. Today, the Chinese personnel come to Tibet accompanied by their families. They are like the American mercenaries. They fight and die for money. This is ridiculous."

"The main aim and purpose of renovating the monastery and opening the religious door is to satisfy adequately the spiritual needs of the masses of believers and to preserve and promote the teachings of Lord Buddha as enshrined in the Sutras and the Tantras. It is neither a renovation work merely to hold religious functions nor is it an attempt to follow the traditional old society's custom of renovating and opening monasteries."

"A great patriot, noted statesman, devoted friend of the Communist Party of China, and outstanding leader of Tibetan Buddhism."

"Buddhism has specified that where four or more monks have formed a group, they should regularly hold Buddhist meetings. This basically means that everyone should come together to discuss and inspect their adherence to the precepts. Because this provides a systemic guarantee for both the Buddhist precepts and the development of Buddhism, and because it’s a concrete manifestation of Buddhist ideology, it holds a very special role and significance."

"If you don’t carefully study the Buddhist scriptures, you won’t have a deep understanding of the Dharma, and you will find it impossible to advance with the times and explain the religious texts and doctrines. If we don’t understand Buddhism ourselves, we cannot deliver its benefits to the masses of religious believers, publicize the Party’s ethnic and religious policies, enable the masses to understand the various policies, maintain the situation of social harmony and stability, or play a positive role in guiding the masses of religious believers."

"Training qualified personnel must now be put on the agenda. Training qualified personnel requires excellent talented people to do the training, and also talented people in general. These two issues are closely linked. It has the same relationship as the one between university admissions and the cultivation of postgraduate students. Today I would like to address the most fundamental issue of increasing the quotas: as quotas are increased, an increase in quality is guaranteed; and without an increase it will be difficult to have a qualitative improvement. In Tibet I saw that the relatively small number of monks was a difficulty for the monasteries, and a large part of that problem is that the quotas are set too low."

"I can clearly recognize who truly loves and protects the Tibetan people, and who for personal motives unscrupulously wrecks Tibet’s tranquility and stability."

"The virtuous Buddha compassionately and skillfully opened the door to the Dharma, pointing out for us the way to choose between wholesome and unwholesome acts. Aiming at both getting self-enlightenment and enlightening others, Buddhism has prospered for thousand years, and is now an important component of the world religion."

"Since the prosperity of Dharma in ancient India, many learnt Buddhists have established monasteries and institutes at various countries for different races, promoting Buddhism like rainbows appearing all over the world. Significant contributions to the development of human societies, ethics and cultural education have been made"

"As we all know, in recent years the Tibet Autonomous Region’s social situation has enjoyed long-term stability, with people’s lives becoming more prosperous, economic development progressing steadily, and rapid advances in various undertakings. In the glow of the Party’s ethnic and religious policies, each ethnic group enjoys freedom of religious belief, traditional culture has been fully protected, and religious activities are carried out normally. We can say that this is extremely important."

"The Tibetan Buddhist tradition, which must both rely on religious tradition and adapt to society, must advance with the times while explaining the religious doctrines and texts. Tibetan Buddhism makes a solemn commitment to “loving the country and loving religion, protecting the country and benefiting the people,” with a doctrine characterized by “compatibility with the esoteric and exoteric,” and a universal spirit of “preaching the Dharma to benefit people’s lives, and compassion for all living beings.” Saying this is very simple, but it takes a long time to study and thoroughly understand."

"Tibetan Buddhism is the faith of the majority of the people of Tibet. Over the years Tibetan Buddhism has become integrated with every aspect of Tibetan society. As such monks have a custom of frequently going to the people’s homes to provide religious services, such as when people are born, grow old, become sick, and die, during festivals and weddings, for agriculture and livestock, and other special occasions – this is known as “performing Buddhist rituals.” The masses have very serious requirements for Buddhist rituals, but due to the small number of monks in a large number of the monasteries we cannot satisfy them."

"Some people living in very distant locations request monks, [which requires travel] along very inconvenient roads, causing financial hardships for the masses; some request monks from other townships and counties, which the monks must traverse while arranging the formalities, causing occasional delays; and sometimes nearby monasteries belong to a different monastic sect, meaning monks must be requested from afar, leading to sectarian issues."

"When investigation is made into whether or not people were rebels, and whether or not the supported and collaborated with the rebellion, we should acquaint ourselves with the cases conscientiously and thoroughly; in dealing with the cases in accordance with the factual situation."

"When opposing the rebellion, it was correct and necessary to declare the criminality of the rebellion, to give the masses of the working people a through class education, including as to who are our enemies and who are our friends, to stimulate a mood of anti-imperialism, patriotism and hatred towards rebels among the people, so destroying the foundations of the rebellion. As for the investigation of the rebels and others who may or may not have colluded with them, due to the fact that the causes, circumstances and characteristics giving rise to the rebellion in each place, and the causes, circumstances and characteristics causing each person to take part in the rebellion certainly had all sorts of differences, these needed through investigation and review. Therefore, it was very important to completely mobilize the masses, for the cadres to carry out a conscientious and careful analysis, and to deal with every aspect of the situation."

"His Holiness the Dalai Lama and I are spiritual friends. There is no difference between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and me. Some people are trying to create discord between us. This will not succeed."

"However, it is a contemporary trend to put "materialistic technology" ahead of the "science of the mind". "Increasing greediness in people's hearts has unbalanced the eco-systems, contaminated the environments, caused natural disasters, spread epidemics, induced wars and hence endangered all sentient beings now and in future"