Modern Buddhism Quotes

“If we want to be truly happy and free from suffering, we must learn how to control our mind.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“Happiness and suffering are states of mind and so their main causes are not to be found outside the mind.”
― Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“When the causes and conditions for a rainbow to appear are assembled a rainbow appears, and when the causes and conditions for the continued appearance of the rainbow disperse the rainbow disappears; but the rainbow does not come from anywhere, nor does it go anywhere.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“I must give up cherishing myself and instead cherish all other living beings without exception.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“Nothing causes me greater harm than the demon of my self-cherishing. It is the source of all my negativity, misfortune, problems and suffering. Therefore I must abandon my self-cherishing.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“… all the suffering there is in this world
Arises from wishing ourself to be happy.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“I shall definitely die. There is no way to prevent my body from finally decaying. Day by day, moment by moment, my life is slipping away. I have no idea when I shall die; the time of death is completely uncertain. Many young people die before their parents, some die the moment they are born – there is no certainty in this world. Furthermore, there are so many causes of untimely death. The lives of many strong and healthy people are destroyed by accidents. There is no guarantee that I shall not die today.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“Self-cherishing and self-grasping are different aspects of one mind. Self-grasping grasps at an inherently existent ‘I’, and self-cherishing believes that such an ‘I’ is precious and that its happiness and freedom are supremely important.”
― Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“Because of mistakenly believing that outer problems are their own problems, most people seek ultimate refuge in the wrong objects. As a result, their suffering and problems never end.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“Buddha said: ‘You should know that all phenomena are like dreams.’ When we die, our gross waking minds dissolve into our very subtle mind and the world we experienced when we were alive simply disappears. The world as others perceive it will continue, but our personal world will disappear as completely and irrevocably as the world of last night’s dream. Buddha”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“Problems arise only if we respond to difficulties with a negative state of mind.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“Although we want to be happy all the time we do not know how to do this, and we are always destroying our own happiness by developing anger, negative views and negative intentions. We are always trying to escape from problems, even in our dreams, but we do not know how to liberate ourself from suffering and problems. Because we do not understand the real nature of things, we are always creating our own suffering and problems by performing inappropriate or non-virtuous actions.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“There is no creator other than the mind.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“aim. We should understand that our problems do not exist outside of ourself, but are part of our mind that experiences unpleasant feelings.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“We need to practise Buddha’s teachings because there is no other real method to solve human problems. For example, because modern technology often causes more suffering and dangers, it cannot be a real method to solve human problems. Although we want to be happy all the time we do not know how to do this, and we are always destroying our own happiness by developing anger, negative views and negative intentions. We are always trying to escape from problems, even in our dreams, but we do not know how to liberate ourself from suffering and problems. Because we do not understand the real nature of things, we are always creating our own suffering and problems by performing inappropriate or non-virtuous actions.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“(3) I am only one, whereas others are countless, so how can I be concerned for myself alone while I neglect others? My happiness and suffering are insignificant when compared with the happiness and suffering of countless other living beings.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“the mind has the power to create all pleasant and unpleasant objects. The world is the result of the karma, or actions, of the beings who inhabit it. A pure world is the result of pure actions and an impure world is the result of impure actions. Since all actions are created by mind, ultimately everything, including the world itself, is created by mind.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“I myself never wish to suffer and always want to be happy, I must abandon and purify my non-virtuous actions and sincerely perform virtuous actions.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“If we were to respond to difficult situations with a positive or peaceful mind they would not be problems for us; indeed, we may even come to regard them as challenges or opportunities for growth and development.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“Happiness and suffering are states of mind and so their main causes are not to be found outside the mind. If we want to be truly happy and free from suffering, we must learn how to control our mind.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“When things go wrong in our life and we encounter difficult situations, we tend to regard the situation itself as our problem, but in reality whatever problems we experience come from the side of the mind. If we were to respond to difficult situations with a positive or peaceful mind they would not be problems for us; indeed, we may even come to regard them as challenges or opportunities for growth and development.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“When our wishes are not fulfilled we usually experience unpleasant feelings, such as unhappiness or depression; this is our own problem because we are so attached to the fulfilment of our wishes.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“Because karma originates in the mind – specifically in our mental intentions – we can see that all worlds arise from the mind.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“Los problemas solo aparecen cuando no reaccionamos de manera constructiva ante las dificultades.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Budismo moderno: El camino de la compasión y la sabiduría, Volumen 1: Sutra

“I cannot bear the suffering of these countless mother beings. Drowning in the vast and deep ocean of samsara, the cycle of contaminated rebirth, they have to experience unbearable physical suffering and mental pain in this life and in countless future lives. I must permanently liberate all these living beings from their suffering.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“How wonderful it would be if all living beings attained the pure and everlasting happiness of enlightenment! May they attain this happiness. I myself will work for this aim.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“The precious mind that cherishes all living beings protects both myself and others from suffering, brings pure and everlasting happiness and fulfils the wishes of both myself and others. Therefore I must always cherish all living beings without exception.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“All the happiness there is in this world Arises from wishing others to be happy,”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“I must believe that the happiness and freedom of myself and all other living beings are equally important because: (1) All living beings have shown me great kindness in both this and previous lives. (2) Just as I wish to be free from suffering and experience only happiness, so do all other beings. In this respect, I am no different from any other being; we are all equal. (3) I am only one, whereas others are countless, so how can I be concerned for myself alone while I neglect others? My happiness and suffering are insignificant when compared with the happiness and suffering of countless other living beings.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra

“Each and every living being is supremely kind and precious to me. They provide me with the opportunity to attain the pure and everlasting happiness of enlightenment – the ultimate goal of human life.”
― Kelsang Gyatso, Modern Buddhism: The Path of Compassion and Wisdom, Volume 1: Sutra