Quotes & Sayings About The Dharma

The highest state of meditation is Samadhi, where there is no ego anymore, no doubts, no me, no you, no notion of time, no eating, no talking, no walking, no working and not doing anything at all, realizing that the Self is action-less. — Dharma Mittra

Look what we are trying. You call it dharma, but it is not. What we are trying is to come together; come together to an understanding. The difference is, the discipline is, the commitment is that we are going to come together with the following guiding lines: 'May the long time sun shine upon you, all love surround you, and the pure light within you guide your way on.' When we came together we decided we would guide our way on. My way and your way we already know, so we do not need to learn that. Each one of you knows 'my' way and 'your' way. All we have to learn is 'our' way. — Harbhajan Singh Yogi

Ask yourself how many of the billions of inhabitants of this planet have any idea of how rare it is to have been born as a human being. How many of those who understand the rarity of human birth ever think of using that chance to practice the Dharma? How many of those who think of practice actually do? How many of those who start continue? ... But once you see the unique opportunity that human life can bring, you will definitely direct all your energy into reaping its true worth by putting the Dharma into practice. — Joseph Goldstein

Those who read books cannot understand the teachings and, what's more, may even go astray. But those who try to observe the things going on in the mind, and always take that which is true in their own minds as their standard, never get muddled. They are able to comprehend suffering, and ultimately will understand Dharma. Then, they will understand the books they read. — Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

There is no dharma greater than a word uttered by a man of conscience; there is no karma greater than a man listening to himself! Since an intention precedes action, it should be the reference point for any action. — Thiruman Archunan

Sometimes, sitting there on the cushion failing to watch your breath, it can feel like you're the only weirdo weird enough to be wasting your time in this way. But you're not! There are generations of weirdos, monasteries full of them, and we have the benefit of their accumulated wisdom. — Jay Michaelson

When you meditate you can stand back from your desire. When you silence the mind and there is stillness, only then can you tell if a desire is dharma. — Frederick Lenz

Once in a while an enlightened teacher goes out into the world and spreads the dharma. They attract some attention, and it is a great spectacle to see who and why and what is drawn. — Frederick Lenz

One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself. This, in brief, is the law of dharma. - Mahabharata XVIII.113.8 — Gurcharan Das

There's no path to liberation that doesn't pass through the shadow. — Jay Michaelson

We are participatory beings who inhabit a participatory reality, seeking relationships that enhance our sense of what it means to be alive. In terms of dharma practice, a true friend is more than just someone with whom we share common values and who accepts us for what we are. Such a friend is someone with whom we share common values and who accepts us for what we are. Such a friend is someone whom we can trust to refine our understanding of what it means to live, who can guide us when we're lost and help us find the way along a path, who can assuage our anguish through the reassurance of his or her presence. — Stephen Batchelor

The masters only point the way. But if you meditate And follow the dharma You will free yourself from desire. 'Everything arises and passes away.' When you see this, you are above sorrow. This is the shining way. — Gautama Buddha

Very often, in order to bring about stillness we have to be tirelessly active in the outer world. You might suppose this would agitate the mind. It will not, if it is the dharma. — Frederick Lenz

Without morality and ethics there is no religion (dharma), the foundation of religion is morality and ethics. — Dada Bhagwan

The fundamental human values all emanate from Dharma, based on Truth. If human behaviour has no such basis, it leads to disaster. — Sathya Sai Baba

A person acquainted with the true principles of this science, who preserves his Dharma (virtue or religious merit), his Artha (worldly wealth) and his Kama (pleasure or sensual gratification), and who has regard to the customs of the people, is sure to obtain the mastery over his senses. In short, an intelligent and knowing person attending to Dharma and Artha and also to Kama, without becoming the slave of his passions, will obtain success in everything that he may do. — Mallanaga Vatsyayana

If we want to eliminate bad qualities like hatred, envy, pride and ostentation, we have to employ Sathya, Dharma, Santhi and Prema and Ahimsa as the cleaning instruments. — Sathya Sai Baba

This is how one ought to see," I repeated yet again. And I might have added, "These are the sort of things one ought to look at." Things without pretensions, satisfied to be merely themselves, sufficient in their suchness, not acting a part, not trying, insanely, to go it alone, in isolation from the Dharma-Body, in Luciferian defiance of the grace of God. — Aldous Huxley

The first task is to discover the dharma by introspection, by constantly questioning yourself and asking yourself, "What is right?" — Frederick Lenz

The art of dharma practice requires commitment, technical accomplishment, and imagination. As with all arts, we will fail to realize its full potential if any of these three are lacking. The raw material of dharma practice is ourself and our world, which are to be understood and transformed according to the vision and values of the dharma itself. This is not a process of self- or world- transcendence, but one of self- and world- creation. — Stephen Batchelor

A person who follows the dharma is unpredictable because the dharma is unpredictable. — Robert M. Pirsig

Actively, we are motivated by the never-ending desires of the self. We are compelled to pursue whatever the self imagines will satisfy its desires. We are convinced that satisfaction of desire is the source of true happiness.
Yet the very nature of desire does not permit happiness. Like trying to quench one's thirst by drinking salt water, satisfying desire only stimulates the flow of desire. In the wake of fulfillment, desire once more stirs and reaches out. There is never lasting satisfaction, not even completion. — Dharma Publishing

It's vital always to bear in mind that we practise for the sake of all other beings, and that the enormity of this aspiration is what makes dharma practice both extremely powerful and inexhaustible, virtually guaranteeing that the result will be infinitely beneficial. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

Whoever clings to mind sees not The truth of what's Beyond the mind. Whoever strives to practice Dharma Finds not the truth of Beyond-practice. To know what is Beyond both mind and practice, One should cut cleanly through the root of mind And stare naked. One should thus break away From all distinctions and remain at ease. — Ram Dass

The average human looks without seeing, listens without hearing, touches without feeling, eats without tasting, inhales without smelling, and talks without thinking." - Leonardo da Vinci Benefits — Dharma Hazari

Hindu Dharma is like a boundless ocean teeming with priceless gems. The deeper you dive the more treasures you find. — Mahatma Gandhi

You are dharma. You are a wheel. And the wheel of dharma spins. — Frederick Lenz

If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it? — Dogen

Everyone in advanced meditation practice should be involved with the economic support of the spread of the dharma. We live in a material world, and it's very expensive to teach meditation. — Frederick Lenz

And as a character, what I found very inspiring about playing Dharma, especially at that time, is that the women on television were more neurotic than they were free. And I thought, this is a rare bird and this is unique on television and I think it's really refreshing. — Jenna Elfman

Inside the treasury of the dharma eye a single grain of dust. — Dogen

All phenomena are embraced within a single self-knowing awareness.
Even though they arise as the totality of samsara and nirvana,
the phenomena of the world of appearances and possibilities
limitless, boundless - arise from basic space.
Therefore, they are subsumed within basic space from which the first arise. — Longchen Rabjam

One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple. — Jack Kerouac

I just kind of understood it, and I threw my love for others and love for life into the character, and was having a blast. I loved playing Dharma. I loved it! — Jenna Elfman

Despite the many occasions when its characters feel frustrated before the weight of circumstances, and despite blaming their feeling of impotence on daiva, 'fate', moral autonomy shines through in the epic. Because they have some freedom to choose they can be praised when they follow dharma or blamed when they follow adharma. At the moment of making a decision they become conscious of their freedom, and it is this perception of autonomy that gives them the ability to lead authentic moral lives. — Gurcharan Das

There is a time to be still in the pose. — Dharma Mittra

As I study both the exoteric and the esoteric schools of Buddhism, they maintain that human beings are endowed with Dharma-nature by birth. If this is the case, why did the Buddhas of all ages - undoubtedly in possession of enlightenment - find it necessary to seek enlightenment and engage in spiritual practice? — Dogen

Dharma practice is founded on resolve. This is not an emotional conversion, a devastating realization of the error of our ways, a desperate urge to be good, but an ongoing, heartfelt reflection on priorities, values, and purpose. We need to keep taking stock of our life in an unsentimental, uncompromising way. — Stephen Batchelor

My dharma teaches me to give my life for the sake of others without even attempting to kill. — Mahatma Gandhi

Dharma is the Truth that all of existence is. It does not disagree with anything. It is the perception of existence in its purest formlessness. — Frederick Lenz

For a warrior, nothing is higher than a war against evil. The warrior confronted with such a war should be pleased, Arjuna, for it comes as an open gate to heaven. But if you do not participate in this battle against evil, you will incur sin, violating your dharma and your honor. — Swami Vivekananda

While happiness is an end in itself, it is also the state of mind we can have right now. — Sharon Salzberg

By the dharma is meant the heart, for there is no dharma apart from the heart. — Huangbo Xiyun

When there is incest, adultery, atheism, hatred of religion, no more dharma, and sin everywhere, the impossible Iron Age has come; in what way the world will be saved? For the helpless, the Lord Himself will manifest as the Supreme Purusha. He will be called the Kalki incarnation and will be glorious like a lion coming down from heaven. — Guru Gobind Singh

You're right, I have taught you nothing. I could teach you nothing. Everything that you needed was already there. You simply needed the word for it. Some need Kali and Shiva to destroy the world so they may see past the illusion to divinity in them, others need Krishna to drive them to the place where they may perceive what is eternal in them. Others may perceive the Divine Spark in themselves only by realizing through enlightenment that the spark resides in all things, and in that they find kinship. But because the Divine Spark resides in all, does not mean that all will discover it. Your dharma is not to learn, Joshua, but to teach — Christopher Moore

I am only here to share my knowledge with others and to help them make rapid progress on the path of yoga. — Dharma Mittra

Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy. — Pema Chodron

An agnostic Buddhist would not regard the Dharma as a source of answers to questions of where we came from, where we are going, what happens after death. He would seek such knowledge in the appropriate domains: astrophysics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, etc. — Stephen Batchelor

A sadhak (one who does spiritual practice) will not have time to indulge in gossip. They will not feel like talking to anyone in a harsh manner. Those who always indulge in faultfinding will never achieve spiritual progress. Do not harm anyone by thoughts, words or deeds. Be compassionate towards all beings. Ahimsa (nonviolence) is the highest dharma (duty). — Mata Amritanandamayi

Indulgence is a legitimate life goal, but it is only one of four life goals. No life is completely lived unless each of these goals is achieved. They are:
Dharma, the goal of fulfilling the duties assigned to us by our positions in society;
Artha, the goal of accumulating possessions in the course of fulfilling our duties;
Kama, the goal of satisfying legitimate desires with the assistance of one's accumulated possessions; and
Moksha, the goal of realizing that there is more to life than duty, possessions and desires. — Robert E. Svoboda

That which reduces our flawed vision is called religion [dharma]. It is non-religion [adharma] that increases a flawed vision. The worldly life is indeed the result of a flawed vision. — Dada Bhagwan

Buddhas continue to live on through their teachings as dharma bodies. Their spirits become manifest in the sangha (spiritual community) where their teachings are passed on. — Shinjo Ito

The Dharma Path is to keep walking forward. But the true Dharma has no going forward, no going backward, and no standing still. — Ajahn Chah

I spent six years in the army. That's the reason I am like a drill sergeant sometimes. — Dharma Mittra

Human beings are not so in harmony with the dharma. That is why they suffer so much. But you as an individual can reach a plane of attention and can become attention itself. — Frederick Lenz

Dharma is in your mind, not in the forest. Don't believe others, just listen to your mind. You don't have to go anywhere else. Wisdom is in yourself, just like a sweet ripe mango is already in a young green one. — Ajahn Chah

It's a mistake to expect benefits from any pose. Expectations make you restless because if you fail to get what you expect, you feel miserable. Yoga practice is an act of adoration to the Lord. You do it because it has to be done. If you have this mental attitude, your selfishness disappears and the benefits come. — Dharma Mittra

Where there is no peace; there is not the slightest religion there. — Dada Bhagwan

To think that practice and realization are not one is a heretical view. In the Buddha Dharma, practice and realization are identical. Because one's present practice is practice in realization, one's initial negotiating of the Way in itself is the whole of original realization. Thus, even while directed to practice, one is told not to anticipate a realization apart from practice, because practice points directly to original realization. — Masao Abe

With the Ethical Rules and a little concentration, anything is possible. — Dharma Mittra

Don't teach too many postures; just the main ones, and hold them for a long time. — Dharma Mittra

When you are doing things together, you are inside the collective mind, and share psychic knowledge with each other. That is how you become one. — Dharma Mittra

Part of why I love these angry, straight, white punks is that they are stripping the dharma of its bullshit, and applying it to contexts and styles that, even if they aren't mine, are at least different from the norm. — Jay Michaelson

Saints and ordinary folks are the same from the start. Inquiring about a difference is like asking to borrow string when you've got a good strong rope. Every Dharma is known in the heart. — Hsu Yun

Must you always speak with so many pop culture references?"
"I must, yes, but no one's making pop culture anymore, so I'm starting to feel dated. I haven't seen a new movie in two years. And you know what else I just realized?"
The doctor stared at him.
"I'm never going to find out what the hell was going on with Lost. I mean, was it just sheer coincidence their plane crashed on the island or was it this Jacob guy pulling the strings all along? And how did most of them end up back in the 1970s with the Dharma people? — Peter Clines

Those who regard worldly affairs as a hindrance to buddha dharma think only that there is no buddha dharma in the secular world; they do not understand that there is no secular world in buddha dharma. — Dogen

Eternity gives life to all and sustains all, transforms all on the wheel of dharma - until all attain perfection. — Frederick Lenz

Some people live closely guarded lives, fearful of encountering someone or something that might shatter their insecure spiritual foundation. This attitude, however, is not the fault of religion but of their own limited understanding. True Dharma leads in exactly the opposite direction. It enables one to integrate all the many diverse experiences of life into a meaningful and coherent whole, thereby banishing fear and insecurity completely. — Thubten Yeshe

Dharma talks aren't the truth. The true Dharma exists in the mind of the students as seeds and the Dharma talks are just like a little cloud that releases rain and causes the seeds in the mind of the practitioners to sprout and manifest. Dharma teachers can't transmit the truth any more than a parent can fully transmit his experiences to his child. The more a parent scolds a child, the more the child becomes blocked. The best a parent can do is be like the rain cloud and nourish the seeds of wisdom in the child. When the child grows up and trips over difficulties and has his own experience, then the wisdom that was watered will manifest. — Thich Nhat Hanh

Long ago a monk asked an old master, "When hundreds, thousands, or myriads of objects come all at once, what should be done?"
The master replied, "Don't try to control them"
What he means is that in whatever way objects come, do not try to change them. Whatever comes is the buddha-dharma, not objects at all. Do not understand the master's reply as merely a brilliant admonition, but realize that it is the truth. Even if you try to control what comes, it cannot be controlled. — Dogen

Sometimes you have tons of money, and still you are miserable, you are not satisfied. The bow of gratitude and arrow of mercy will give you everything. Gratitude will turn your attitude into mercy, mercy will bring you dharma, and dharma will give you solid prosperity. — Harbhajan Singh Yogi

That which frees one from bondage is the right religion. — Dada Bhagwan

The idea persists that faith is a remnant of an ancient way of life, a way of knowing that asks for unthinking acceptance of a belief system or adherence to specific dogma. This may be the case for some spiritual traditions, but the Buddha insisted that his disciples investigate his teachings with the powers of reason, test them in the inner laboratory of meditation, and build their faith on a firm foundation of knowledge. As a result, faith in the Dharma implies faith in one's ability to recognize truth when it presents itself and to take responsibility for verifying it through analysis and meditative experience. — Dharma Publishing

Have your life properly aligned with dharma. The technicalities of the movement of the kundalini are easy to master. Dharma is much more complex. — Frederick Lenz

The dharma is a universal medicine. — Jack Kornfield

The buddha-dharma does not invite us to dabble in abstract notions. Rather, the task it presents us with is to attend to what we actually experience, right in this moment. You don't have to look "over there." You don't have to figure anything out. You don't have to acquire anything. And you don't have to run off to Tibet, or Japan, or anywhere else. You wake up right here. In fact, you can only wake up right here.
So you don't have to do the long search, the frantic chase, the painful quest. You're already right where you need to be. — Steve Hagen

If the kundalini is flowing through you at a very rapid rate, if you are not in harmony with the dharma, then you will have great problems with the study. — Frederick Lenz

If you have humility, you are willing to undertake anything to spread the dharma. — Frederick Lenz

Religion is the secret of life. It teaches us to love, to serve, to forgive, to endure, and to interact with our brothers and sisters with empathy and compassion. Advaita (non-duality) is a purely subjective experience. But in daily life it may be expressed as love and compassion. This is the great lesson taught by the great saints and sages of India, the exponents of Sanatana Dharma. — Mata Amritanandamayi

Without the Yamas, known as the ethical rules, there is no success in Yoga — Dharma Mittra

See yourself in the practice you are not able to access right now. Imagine yourself in it. — Dharma Mittra

The greatest religion [dharma] is that we keep everyone pleased. — Dada Bhagwan

What is the nature of the Self (Soul)? To 'see' the dharma (function) of everything, to see 'who is performing what function, and how that function is being performed.' To 'see' it, is called the function of the Self (Soul). — Dada Bhagwan

Dharma is easiest to spot by its absence: the Mahabharata employs the pedagogical technique of teaching about dharma via its opposite, adharma — Gurcharan Das

Your dharma is what kind of work you should be doing, what kind of people you should associate with, whether you should have a teacher or not. Dharma encompasses all things and it is specific to the individual. — Frederick Lenz

The original reality of Amitabha is our own Dharma body, It shines out brightly everywhere, in the South, North, East, and West, It is like the autumn moon that lies in the high, vast sky, In the silence of the night its brilliance shines far over the ocean. — Thich Nhat Hanh

Yudhishthira answers Yaksha's question - what is man? by saying, 'The repute of a good deed touches heaven and earth; one is called a man as long as his repute lasts. — Gurcharan Das

The aim of far too many teachings these days is to make people "feel good," and even some Buddhist masters are beginning to sound like New Age apostles. Their talks are entirely devoted to validating the manifestation of ego and endorsing the "rightness" of our feelings, neither of which have anything to do with the teachings we find in the pith instructions. So, if you are only concerned about feeling good, you are far better off having a full body massage or listening to some uplifting or life-affirming music than receiving dharma teachings, which were definitely not designed to cheer you up. On the contrary, the dharma was devised specifically to expose your failings and make you feel awful. — Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse

For the first five years of my life, I grew up in a log cabin in coastal British Columbia in a very small town, like 300 people, mostly hippies. No running water, no electricity. When I was 12, I changed my name from Dharma to Stewart. At that age, you just want to be normal. — Stewart Butterfield

Dharma is one and one only. Ahimsa means moksha, and moksha is the realization of Truth. — Mahatma Gandhi

We underestimate the value of patience. It is possible that people might sometimes interrupt our meditation sessions or Dharma study, but they can never take away our opportunity to train in inner virtues such as patience. It is this mental training, rather than outer virtuous activities, that is the essence of Dharma practice. — Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

Simply put, DHARMA is Dhya (Aim) mein (unto) raman (walkabout) - Sojourn Unto the [Ultimate] Aim [the Truth of What Is- God]. — Fakeer Ishavardas

In India, we have a saying: 'Always look down, never look up," he said. "When you are trying to determine where you stand in life, don't look upward at the rich people, the people with everything. Look downward at the people who have nothing, those begging on the street, those living in the slums. There's no end to looking up and feeling badly. And if you try to spit upward it only falls down upon your own face. Only by looking down do you understand your dharma. — Alison Singh Gee

In Buddhism, there are three gems: Buddha, the awakened one; Dharma,
the way of understanding and loving; and Sangha, the community that
lives in harmony and awareness. The three are interrelated, and at
times it is hard to distinguish one from another. In everyone there
is the capacity to wake up, to understand, and to love. So in
ourselves we find Buddha, and we also find Dharma and Sangha. — Nhat Hanh

The person who understands Dharma will have the opposite reaction to a "hard" job. That person will be eager to get started, no matter what kind of work is in front of her, because she understands that she's doing God's work. And when you're working for God, nothing is too hard. — Russell Simmons

At the last stages of the journey, there's no journey at all. — Jay Michaelson

According to this law [the law of Dharma], you have a unique talent and a unique way of expressing it. There is something that you can do better than anyone else in the whole world
and for every unique talent and unique expression of that talent, there are also unique needs. When these needs are matched with the creative expression of your talent, that is the spark that creates affluence. Expressing your talents to fulfill needs creates unlimited wealth and abundance. — Deepak Chopra

Though through all his life a fool associates with a wise man, he yet understands not the Dharma, as the spoon, the flavor of soup. — Gautama Buddha

1. Mahabharata (3.281.34) 34. adrohah sarva-bhuteshu karmana manasa gira anugrahas cha danam cha satam dharmah sanatanah Never displaying malice towards any living being through actions, thoughts or words, acts of kindness, and giving in charity; this is the Sanatana Dharma adhered to by righteous persons. — Hanuman Dass

Saints guide people on the path of religion [dharma] and the Gnani Purush [the enlightened one] grants 'liberation' (moksha). — Dada Bhagwan