The Star Spangled Buddhist Quotes

“Buddhism is not a religion in the Western sense but rather a practical set of ideas and approaches toward understanding the workings of life. To be more precise, it’s a system of practices and philosophical tenets designed to help people overcome their sufferings. It is to the soul what weightlifting is for muscles—it strengthens the self to the extent that a person’s spirit, through devoted practice, becomes impervious to external influences. And it’s open and available to everyone.”
― Jeff Ourvan, The Star Spangled Buddhist: Zen, Tibetan, and Soka Gakkai Buddhism and the Quest for Enlightenment in America

“If you want to understand the causes that existed in the past, look at the results as they are manifested in the present. And if you want to understand what results will be manifested in the future, look at the causes that exist in the present. Life,”
― Jeff Ourvan, The Star Spangled Buddhist: Zen, Tibetan, and Soka Gakkai Buddhism and the Quest for Enlightenment in America

“You can go on believing or not believing in God as you see fit. He, She, or They do not enter the Buddhist equation. Nonviolence”
― Jeff Ourvan, The Star Spangled Buddhist: Zen, Tibetan, and Soka Gakkai Buddhism and the Quest for Enlightenment in America

“T he United States is the first, and perhaps only, country in the world in which every Buddhist sect is represented. Although”
― Jeff Ourvan, The Star Spangled Buddhist: Zen, Tibetan, and Soka Gakkai Buddhism and the Quest for Enlightenment in America

“If you nourish your hatred and your anger, you burn yourself. Understanding is the only way out. If you understand, you will suffer less, and you will know how to get to the root of injustice. . . . When you are a victim of injustice, if you get angry, you will suffer one hundred times more.”
― Jeff Ourvan, The Star Spangled Buddhist: Zen, Tibetan, and Soka Gakkai Buddhism and the Quest for Enlightenment in America

“Nothing exists in isolation. In fact, all beings and phenomena exist only because of their relationship with other beings or phenomena.”
― Jeff Ourvan, The Star Spangled Buddhist: Zen, Tibetan, and Soka Gakkai Buddhism and the Quest for Enlightenment in America