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Quotes from Buddhism in a Nutshell — Narada Maha Thera

1898–1983

← All quotes by Narada Maha Thera

33 quotes

Buddhism does not totally deny the existence of a personality in an empirical sense. It only attempts to show that it does not exist in an ultimate sense.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

The Buddhas point out the path, and it is left for us to follow that path to obtain our purification.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

According to Buddhism mind is nothing but a complex compound of fleeting mental states.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

A Buddhist is aware of future consequences, but he refrains from evil because it retards, does good because it aids progress to Enlightenment (Bodhi).

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

Buddhism does not demand blind faith from its adherents. Here mere belief is dethroned and is substituted by confidence based on knowledge, which, in Pali, is known as Saddha.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

One who aspires to become a Buddha is called a Bodhisatta, which, literally, means a wisdom-being.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

In the Word of the Buddha it is not by mere birth one becomes an outcast or a noble, but by one's actions.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

No state once gone ever recurs nor is identical with what goes before.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

The Buddha does not claim the monopoly of Buddhahood which, as a matter of fact, is not the prerogative of any specially graced person.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

In Buddhism there is no one to reward or punish. Pain or happiness are the inevitable results of one's actions.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

What is nobler than a life of service and purity?

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

Nibbana is a supramundane state attainable even in this present life. Buddhism does not state that this ultimate goal could be reached only in a life beyond.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

Past Kamma conditions the present birth; and present Kamma, in combination with past Kamma, conditions the future.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

Buddhism is not confined to any country or any particular nation. It is universal.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

Kamma is, therefore, only one of the five orders that prevail in the universe. It is a law in itself, but it does not thereby follow that there should be a law-giver.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

We build our own hells. We create our own heavens. We are the architects of our own fate. In short we ourselves are our own kamma.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

The Buddha was a human being. As a man He was born, as a man He lived, and as a man His life came to an end.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

The activities whether good or bad rooted in ignorance which must necessarily have their due effects, only tend to prolong life's wandering. Nevertheless, good actions are essential to get rid of the ills of life.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

We reap what we have sown. What we sow we reap somewhere or some when.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

Morality is only the preliminary stage on the Path of Purity.

Buddhism in a Nutshell (1933)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Narada Maha Thera (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.