Buddhism
teaches us that every person can achieve enlightenment. The famous
linguist and writer, Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, was among those who became
convinced of this. In the late 19th century, he travelled all
around Japan, cataloguing the various aphorisms from the country’s Buddhist
tradition which were popular among the common people. Such sayings provide
a fascinating look into the impact Buddhist philosophy has had on the
thinking, speech and way of life of Japan.
But they can also teach us something important. If you wish to achieve a healthier state of mind, we strongly recommend reading and contemplating the following statements.
But they can also teach us something important. If you wish to achieve a healthier state of mind, we strongly recommend reading and contemplating the following statements.
1.
Hell and Heaven are in the hearts
of men.
2.
Even a common man by obtaining knowledge becomes a Buddha.
3.
All lust
is grief.
4.
One must
go outside to hear Buddhist doctrine or the sound of rain
on a straw roof.
5.
Learn to let go — therein lies the key to happiness.
6.
Even the experience
of a single shadow, or a single ripple of water,
is the result of the karma-relations of a previous life.
7.
Cause-and-effect is like a wheel.
8.
Meeting is only
the beginning of separation.
9.
All things are merely
dreams.
10.
The priest who
preaches foul doctrine shall be reborn as a fungus.
11.
The flower goes back
to its root.
12.
Though the flame
be put out, the wick remains.
13.
Even a worm an inch long has a soul half-an-inch long.
14.
Even in hell old
acquaintances are welcome.
15.
Good actions
go not outside of the gate: bad deeds travel a thousand ri.
16.
The body
is tortured only by the demon of the heart.
17.
Be the teacher of your heart: do not allow your heart
to become your teacher.
18.
The mouth is the
front-gate of all misfortune.
19.
Nothing will grow,
if the seed be not sown.
20.
There
is no King on the Road of Death.
21.
The Wind
of Impermanency does not choose a time.
22.
Even a devil, when you become accustomed to the sight
of him, may prove a pleasant acquaintance.
23.
With one hair
of a woman you can tether even a great elephant.
24.
There
is no miracle in true doctrine.
25.
Virtue is the
return for virtue; evil is the return for evil.
26.
Only by reason
of having died does one enter into life.
27.
Even
in a cat the Buddha-nature exists.
Source : brightside.me
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