Bodhidharma > Quotes

“Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.”
― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

“But people of the deepest understanding look within, distracted by nothing. Since a clear mind is the Buddha, they attain the understanding of a Buddha without using the mind.”
― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

“To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss.”
― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

“Those who worship don't know, and those who know don't worship.”
― Bodhidharma

“All know the way; few actually walk it.”
― Bodhidharma

“At every moment where language can't go, that's your mind.”
― Bodhidharma

“People of this world are deluded. They’re always longing for something-always, in a word, seeking. But the wise wake up. They choose reason over custom. They fix their minds on the sublime and let their bodies change with the seasons. All phenomena are empty. They contain nothing worth desiring.”
― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

“According to the Sutras, evil deeds result in hardships and good deeds result in blessings.”
― Bodhidharma

“If you use your mind to study reality, you won't understand either your mind or reality. If you study reality without using your mind, you'll understand both.”
― Bodhidharma

“Poverty and hardship are created by false thinking.”
― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

“our nature is the mind. and the mind is our nature.this nature is the same as the mind of all buddhas. buddhas of the past and future only transmit this mind. beyond this mind there’s no buddha anywhere.but deluded people don’t realize that their own mind is the buddha.they keep searching outside.they never stop invoking buddhas or worshipping buddhas and wondering where is the buddha? don’t indulge in such illusions. just know your mind. beyond your mind there’s no other buddha.the sutras say, "everything that has form is an illusion."they also say, "wherever you are, there’s a buddha." your mind is the buddha. don’t use a buddha to worship a buddha.”
― bodhidharma

“A buddha is an idle person. He doesn't run around after fortune and fame.”
― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

“Vast emptiness, nothing holy.”
― Bodhidharma

“The mind is the root from which all things grow if you can understand the mind, everything else is included. It’s like the root of a tree. All a tree’s fruit and flowers, branches and leaves depend on its root. If you nourish its root, a tree multiplies. If you cut its root, it dies. Those who understand the mind reach enlightenment with minimal effort.”
― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

“Not engaging in ignorance is wisdom.”
― Bodhidharma

“Everything sacred, nothing sacred.”
― Bodhidharma

“Every suffering is a buddha-seed, because suffering impels mortals to seek wisdom. But you can only say that suffering gives rise to buddhahood. You can’t say that suffering is buddhahood. Your body and mind are the field. Suffering is the seed, wisdom the sprout, and buddhahood the grain.”
― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

“A Buddha is someone who finds freedom in good fortune and bad.”
― Bodhidharma

“The ignorant mind, with its infinite afflictions, passions, and evils, is rooted in the three poisons. Greed, anger, and delusion."
― Bodhidharma”
― Bodhidharma

“Freeing oneself from words is liberation.”
― Bodhidharma

“Buddha means awareness, the awareness of body and mind that prevents evil from arising in either.”
― Bodhidharma

“People of this world are deluded. They're always longing for something - always, in a word, seeking.”
― Bodhidharma

“The farther away you are from the truth, the more the hateful and pleasurable states will arise. There is also self—deception.”
― Bodhidharma

“To go from mortal to Buddha, you have to put an end to karma, nurture your awareness, and accept what life brings.”
― Bodhidharma

“Regardless of what we do, our karma has no hold on us.”
― Bodhidharma

“Reality has no inside, outside, or middle part.”
― Bodhidharma

“Even if you have mountains of jewels and as many servants as there are grains of sand along the Ganges, you see them when your eyes are open. But what about when your eyes are shut?You should realize then that everything you see is like a dream or illusion.”
― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

“When the mortal mind appears, buddhahood disappears. When the mortal mind disappears, buddhahood appears. When the mind appears, reality disappears. When the mind disappears, reality appears. Whoever knows that nothing depends on anything has found the Way. And whoever knows that the mind depends on nothing is always at the place of enlightenment.”
― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma

“As mortals, we're ruled by conditions, not by ourselves.”
― Bodhidharma

“The Dharma is the truth that all natures are pure. By this truth, all appearances are empty.”
― Bodhidharma, The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma