Gil Fronsdal > Quotes

“One of the things that kills Buddhist spiritual life is excessive seriousness.”
― Gil Fronsdal

“The intentions to be kind, compassionate, helpful, happy, and liberated are among the most beautiful qualities we have as humans.”
― Gil Fronsdal, Issue at Hand

“He who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy. But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sunrise.”
― Gil Fronsdal, Issue at Hand

“We can in fact remove from our hearts the toxic forces of greed, hate, and delusion.”
― Gil Fronsdal, Issue at Hand

“Oneself, indeed, is one’s own protector. One does, indeed, [make] one’s own destiny.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“Hatred never ends through hatred. By non-hate alone does it end. This is an ancient truth.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“Better than a thousand meaningless statements Is one meaningful word, Which, having been heard, Brings peace.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“Evil is done by oneself alone; By oneself is one defiled. Evil is avoided by oneself; By oneself alone is one purified. Purity and impurity depend on oneself; No one can purify another.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“Greater in combat Than a person who conquers A thousand times a thousand people Is the person who conquers herself.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“A loving heart does not need to be loved. Being loving is more important than being loved.”
― Gil Fronsdal

“Hatred never ends through hatred.
By non-hatred alone does it end.
This is eternal truth. Victory gives birth to hate;
The defeated sleep tormented. Giving up both victory and defeat,
The peaceful sleep delighted. All tremble at violence:
All fear death. Having likened others to yourself,
Don’t kill or cause others to kill. If you surveyed the entire world
You’d find no one more dear than yourself. Since each person is most dear to themselves,
May those who love themselves not bring harm to anyone. The person who day and night
Delights in harmlessness, And has loving-kindness toward all beings,
Is the one who has no hate for anyone.”
― Gil Fronsdal, Issue at Hand

“do not turn anything Into something longed for, For then it’s dreadful to lose.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“Buddhist teachings suggest that when we find the thing that keeps us from appreciating the present, the thing that keeps us from trusting, the very thing that causes us suffering, it is a gate to freedom, to awakening.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Issue at Hand: Essays on Buddhist Mindfulness Practice

“Not doing evil is happiness.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“The Book of Eights’ emphasis is on overcoming any longing for any form of future rebirth. In contrast to later Buddhist teachings that are predicated on the belief in rebirth, the Book of Eights presents a path of practice—attainable in this lifetime—that appears free from concern with multiple lives.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Buddha before Buddhism: Wisdom from the Early Teachings

“The gift of Dharma surpasses all gifts. The taste of Dharma surpasses all tastes. The delight in Dharma surpasses all delights. The destruction of craving conquers all suffering.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“One who makes merit rejoices in this life, Rejoices in the next, Rejoices in both worlds. Seeing one’s own pure acts brings joy and delight.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“One who delights in the ending of craving Is a disciple of the Fully Awakened One.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“Whoever endures abuse, assault, and imprisonment Without animosity, And who has forbearance as one’s strength, As one’s mighty army, I call a brahmin.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“Many of us have hearts that are encrusted with anxieties, fears, aversions, sorrows, and an array of defensive armor. The non-reactive and accepting awareness of mindfulness will help to dissolve these crusts. The practice has a cyclic quality; it is self-reinforcing. At first, the practice will allow us to let go of a small amount of defensiveness. That release allows a corresponding amount of openness and tender- heartedness to show itself. This process encourages us to drop even more armor. Slowly, a greater sense of heartfeltness supports the further development of mindfulness.

As our neurotic thought patterns drop away, layers of judgment and resistance atrophy, and the need to define our selves through hard-held identities relaxes. As this happens, the natural goodness of the heart shines by itself.

The impulses to be aware, happy, compassionate, and free, all come from the goodness of our hearts. As we connect to these intentions and allow them to motivate our mindfulness practice, the practice becomes heartfelt.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Issue at Hand: Essays on Buddhist Mindfulness Practice

“Without longing or dislike, No bonds exist.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“the tradition discourages attachments to any particular ideas of enlightenment as well as to pointless philosophical or metaphysical speculation.”
― Gil Fronsdal, Issue at Hand

“the text explicitly denies the role of ultimate religious “truth” and “knowledge” in attaining personal peace.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Buddha before Buddhism: Wisdom from the Early Teachings

“Vigilant and absorbed in meditation One attains abundant happiness.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“Victory gives birth to hate; The defeated sleep in anguish. Giving up both victory and defeat, Those who have attained peace sleep happily.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“It’s easy to do what is not good And things that harm oneself. It’s very difficult to do Things beneficial and good.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Dhammapada: A Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations

“the Book of Eights does not espouse a religious doctrine that exists in opposition to other doctrines. Nor does it put forth a teaching that is meant to be seen as superior to other teachings.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Buddha before Buddhism: Wisdom from the Early Teachings

“And I have known meditators filled with doubt and self-condemnation when the practice has been stormy. Practicing with our best effort during periods of crisis and personal struggle may not bring about spiritual highs. It may, however, bring something more important: a strengthening of the inner qualities that sustain a spiritual life for the long term: mindfulness, persistence, courage, compassion, humility, renunciation, discipline, concentration, faith*, acceptance, and kindness.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Issue at Hand: Essays on Buddhist Mindfulness Practice

“what might the Buddha have taught after his awakening but before he and others organized and systematized his teachings into what is now identified as Buddhism?”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Buddha before Buddhism: Wisdom from the Early Teachings

“In this text, reality is not divided into a conditioned, worldly realm and an unconditioned, transcendent realm far removed from the contingent world of ordinary human life. Instead, the teachings point to a peace that can be found in this life in this world.”
― Gil Fronsdal, The Buddha before Buddhism: Wisdom from the Early Teachings