The Buddha's Greatness

I cannot myself feel that either in the matter of wisdom or in the matter of virtue Christ stands quite as high as some other people known to history - I think I should put Buddha above him in those respects.

~ Bertrand Russell, "Why I am not a Christian"

Embodiment of Virtues

Buddha was the embodiment of all the virtues he preached. During his successful and eventful ministry of 45 years he translated all his words into action; and in no place did he give vent to any human frailty, or any base passion. The Buddha's moral code is the most perfect which the world has ever known.

~ Prof. Max Muller, German Scholar

Blossom of the Human Tree

This is the blossom on our human tree which opens in many a myriad years But opened, fills the world with wisdom's scent And love's dropped honey.

~ Sir Edwin Arnold, "Light of Asia"

Buddha Is Nearer To Us

You see clearly a man, simple, devout, lonely, battling for light, a vivid human personality, not a myth. Beneath a mass of miraculous fable I feel that there also was a man. He too, gave a message to mankind universal in its character. Many of our best modern ideas are in closest harmony with it. All the miseries and discontents of life are due, he taught, to selfishness. Selfishness takes three forms - one, the desire to satisfy the senses; second, the craving for immortality; and the third the desire for prosperity and worldliness. Before a man can become serene he must cease to live for his senses or himself. Then he merges into a great being. Buddha in a different language called men to self-forgetfulness five hundred years before Christ. In some ways he was near to us and our needs. Buddha was more lucid upon our individual importance in service than Christ, and less ambiguous upon the question of personal immortality.

~ H. G. Wells

Most Noble of Mankind

If you desire to see the most noble of mankind, look at the king in beggar's clothing; it is he whose sanctity is great among men.

~ Abdul Atahiya, A Muslim Poet

Buddha’s Method

If any question has to be considered, it has to be considered peacefully and democratically in the way taught by the Buddha.

~ Nehru

A Lunatic and a Sane Man

The difference between the Buddha and an ordinary man is like the difference between a sane man and a lunatic.

~ A writer

Homage to Buddha

Lord Buddha could be very easily singled out as the one person known to man who received homage from the greatest number of mankind.

~ Prof. Saunders, Literary Secretary Y.M.C.A. India, Burma, Ceylon

Buddha’s Message

The Buddha has been something greater than all doctrine and dogma, and his eternal message has thrilled humanity through the ages. Perhaps at no time in past history was his message of peace more needed for a suffering and distracted humanity than it is today.

~ Nehru

Negative Answer of the Buddha

If we ask, for instance, whether the position of the electron remains the same, we must say ‘no’; if we ask whether the electron’s position changes with time, we must say ‘no’; if we ask whether it is in motion, we must say ‘no’. The Buddha has given such answers when interrogated as to the conditions of a man’s self after his death; but they are not familiar answers for the tradition of seventeenth and eighteenth century science.

~ J. Robert Oppenheimer

We are impressed by His spirit of reason

When we read Buddha’s discourses, we are impressed by his spirit of reason. His ethical path has for its first step right views, a rational outlook. He endeavours to brush aside all cobwebs that interfere with mankind’s vision of itself and its destiny.

~ Dr. S Radhakrishnan, “Gautama The Buddha”

Cool head and loving heart

The most striking thing about the Buddha is almost a unique combination of a cool scientific head and profound sympathy of a warm and loving heart. The world today turns more and more towards the Buddha, for he alone represents the conscience of humanity.

~ Moni Bagghee, “Our Buddha”

Philosophic genius

The Buddha was a pioneer as a lover of men, and a philosophic genius rolled into a single vigorous and radiant personality. He had things to say that no man or woman, after 2500 years of bustling and hustling and chattering round the fountain of knowledge, can afford to ignore. Greater perhaps than his wisdom was the example he set.

~ Moni Bagghee, “Our Buddha”

He does not speak of sin

Serenity of spirit and love for all sentient creation are enjoined by the Buddha. He does not speak of sin, but only of ignorance and foolishness which could be cured by enlightenment and sympathy.

~ Dr. S Radhakrisnan, “Gautama The Buddha”

Buddha is like a physician

The Buddha is like a physician. Just as a doctor must know the diagnosis of the different kinds of illness, their causes, the antidotes and remedies, and must be able to apply to them, so also the Buddha has taught the Four Holy Truths which indicate the range of suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the way which leads to its cessation.

~ Dr. Edward Conze, “Buddhism”

Buddha is for whole mankind

The Buddha is not a property of Buddhists only. He is the property of whole mankind. His teaching is common to everybody. Every religion, which came into existence after the Buddha, has borrowed many good ideas from the Buddha.

~ A Muslim Scholar

A wise father

Buddha is one who sees his children playing in the consuming fire of worldliness and employs different expedients to bring them out of this burning house and lead them to the safe asylum of Nirvana.

~ Prof. Lakshimi Narasu, “The Essence of Buddhism”

Buddha is the way

I feel more and more that Sakyamuni is the nearest in character and effect to Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

~ Bishop Milman

A Radiant Sun

In this world of storm and strife, hatred and violence, the message of the Buddha shines like a radiant sun. Perhaps at no time was that message more needed than in the world of the atomic and hydrogen bombs. Two thousand five hundred years have only added to the vitality and truth of that message. Let us remember that immortal message and try to fashion our thought and actions in the light of that teaching. We may face with equanimity even the terrors of the atomic bomb age and help a little in promoting right thinking and right action.

~ Nehru

Greatest man ever born

Here is a teaching we can follow with confidence. Where in the world of religions, cults and creeds, can we find a master of such brilliance? In a pagent of stars he was a giant of the greatest magnitude. Little wonder that scientists, philosophers, and men of literature have proclaimed Him ‘the Greatest man ever born.’ The radiance of this great teacher goes through a world of suffering and darkness, like a beacon light to guide and illuminate mankind.

~ A European Writer

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Fundamental Teachings of The Buddha

Gentleness, serenity, compassion, through liberation from selfish-craving - these are the fundamental teachings of the great Oriental religion of Buddhism.

~ E. A. Burtt, "The Compassionate Buddha"

Well Built Bridge

Buddha Dharma is like a bridge well built of flexible steel, it gives a little to wind and water, it adapts itself to changing circumstances, but at the same time it has secured foundations and offers a safe way to the Deathless, to Nirvana.

~ Phra K Khantipalo, "Tolerance"

To Awake the Human Heart

Surely the mysterious East, that fertile mother of religions, has given us in Buddhism a true revelation, since it makes known to us the moral beauty and purity that lies in the deep of human nature needing no other divinity than that which abides in the human heart to awake them into living glory.

~ Charles T. Gorham

Nothing to Surpass Buddhism

Buddhist or not Buddhist, I have examined every one of the great religious systems of the world, and in none of them have I found anything to surpass, in beauty and comprehensiveness, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths of the Buddha. I am content to shape my life according to that path.

~ Prof. Rhys Davids

Buddhism Does Not Lead Us to a Fool's Paradise

Buddhism is realistic, for it takes a realistic view of life and of the world. It does not falsely pull us into living in a fool's paradise, nor does it frighten and agonize us with all kinds of imaginary fears and guilt-feelings. It calls us exactly and objectively what we are and what the world around us is, and shows us the way to perfect freedom, peace, tranquility and happiness.

~ Ven. Dr. W. Rahula

The Buddha's Mission

The mission of the Buddha was quite unique in its character, and therefore it stands quite apart from the many other religions of the world. His mission was to bring the birds of idealism flying in the air nearer to the earth, because the food for their bodies belonged to the earth.

~ Hazrat Inayat Khan. "The Sufi Message"

A Cosmic Religion

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all. things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description.

~ Albert Einstein

Buddhism Will Remain Unaffected

The doctrines of Buddha Dhamma stand today, as unaffected by the march of time and the expansion of knowledge as when they were first enunciated. No matter to what lengths increased scientific knowledge can extend man's mental horizon, within the framework of the Dhamma there is room for the acceptance and assimilation of further discovery. It does not rely for its appeal upon limited concepts of primitive minds nor for its power upon the negation of thought.

~ Francis Story, "Buddhism as World Religion"

Joyful Religion

Buddhism is quite opposed to the melancholic, sorrowful, penitent and gloomy attitude of mind which is considered a hindrance to the realization of Truth. On the other hand, it is interesting to remember here that joy is one of the seven 'Factors of Illumination', the essential qualities to be cultivated for the realization of Nirvana.

~ Ven. Dr. W. Rahula, 'What the Buddha Taught'

Challenge to Other Religions

It is Buddhism as we find it actually recorded, not a hypothetical primitive system, which still forms a challenge to other religions.

~ Bishop Gore, "Buddha and the Christ."

No Assumption in Buddhism

It is a glory of Buddhism that it makes intellectual enlightenment an essential condition of salvation. In Buddhism morality and intellectual enlightenment are inseparable from one another. While morality forms the basis of the highest life, knowledge and wisdom complete it. Without a perfect understanding of the law of causality and transformation (Pratityasamutpada), no one can even be said to be truly moral if he does not possess the necessary insight and knowledge. In this respect Buddhism differs from all other religions. All monotheistic religions start with certain assumptions, and when these assumptions are contradicted by the growth of knowledge it increase sorrow. But Buddhism starts with no assumptions. It stands on the firm rock of facts, and can therefore never shun the dry light of knowledge.

~ Prof. Lakshimi Narasu, "The Essence of Buddhism"

Buddha has Seen Deeper Than Modern Idealists

Gautama got rid of even that shade of a shadow of permanent existence by a metaphysical tour de force of great interest to the student of philosophy, seeing that it supplies the wanting half of Bishop Berkeley's well-known idealist argument. It is a remarkable indication of the subtlety of Indian speculation that Gautama should have seen deeper than the greatest of modern idealists. The tendency of enlightened thought of all today all the world over is not towards theology, but philosophy and psychology. The bark of theological dualism is drifting into danger. The fundamental principles of evolution and monism are being accepted by the thoughtful.

~ Prof. Huxley. "Evolution And Ethics"

Religious Revolution

Twenty-five centuries ago India witnessed an intellectual and religious revolution which culminated in the overthrow of monotheism, priestly selfishness, and the establishment of a synthetic religion, a system of light and thought which was appropriately called Dhamma - Philosophical Religion.

~ Anagarika Dharmapala, "The World's Debt to Buddha"

A Plan for Living

Buddhism is a plan for living in such a way as to derive highest benefit from life. It is a religion of wisdom where knowledge and intelligence predominate. The Buddha did not preach to win converts but to enlighten listeners.

~ A Western writer

Come and See

Buddhism is always a question of knowing and seeing, and not that of believing. The teaching of the Buddha is qualified as Ehi-Passiko, inviting you to come and see, but not to come and believe.

~ Ven. Dr. W. Rahula, "What the Buddha Taught"

Religion of Man

Buddhism will last as long as the sun and moon last and the human race exists upon the earth, for it is the religion of man, of humanity as a whole.

~ Bandaranaike, Former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

Buddhist is Not a Slave to Anybody

A Buddhist is not a slave to a book or to any person. Nor does he sacrifice his freedom of thought by becoming a follower of the Buddha. He can exercise his own free will and develop his knowledge even to the extent of attaining Buddhahood himself, for all are potential Buddhas.

~ Ven. Narada Maha Thera "What is Buddhism"

Life by Principle

Buddhism taught a life not by rule, but by principle, a life of beauty; and as a consequence, it was a religion of tolerance. It was the most charitable system under the sun.

~ Rev. Joseph Wain

Buddhism Would Remain

Buddhism would remain what it is even if it were proved that the Buddha never lived.

~ Christmas Humphreys, "Buddhism"

Modern Problems

To read a little Buddhism is to realize that the Buddhists knew, two thousand five hundred years ago, far more about our modern problems of psychology than they have yet been given credit for. They studied these problems long ago and found their answers too.

~ Dr. Graham Howe

Mind Training

We hear much nowadays of thought-power, but Buddhism is the most complete and effective system of mind-training yet placed before the world.

~ Dudley Wright

New Race

The Buddha created a new race of men, a race of moral heroes, a race of salvation-workers, a race of Buddhas.

~ Manmatha Nath Sastri

First Missionary

Buddhism is the first missionary religion in the history of humanity with a universal message of salvation for all mankind. The Buddha after his Enlightenment sent out sixty-one disciples in different directions asking them to preach the doctrine for the weal and welfare of mankind.

~ Dr. K.N. Jayatilleke, "Buddhism and Peace"

No Forced Conversion

It was never, however, the Buddhist way to proselytize - in the sense of forcing ideas and beliefs upon an unwilling audience, much less to exert pressure of any kind, or any kind of flattery, deceit or cajolery, to win adherence to one's own point of view. Buddhist missionaries have never competed for converts in the marketplace.

~ Dr. G.P. Malalasekara

Ultimate Fact of Reality

Here it is necessary to draw attention to another unique feature of the religion of the Buddha, namely, that it is the only religion of any religious teacher, which is the outcome of a consistent philosophy, which claims to tell us about the ultimate facts of existence and reality. The religion of the Buddha is a way of life resulting from the acceptance of a view of life, which is said to be factual. His philosophy is not without an account of the nature of knowledge.

~ Dr. K.N. Jayatilleke, "Buddhism and Peace"

No Fanaticism

Of Buddhism alone can it be affirmed it is free from all fanaticism. Its aim being to produce in every man a thorough internal transforming by self-conquest, how can it have recourse to might or money or even persuasion for effecting conversion? The Buddha has only shown the way to salvation, and it is left to each individual to decide for himself if he would follow it.

~ Prof. Lakshimi Narasu, "The Essence of Buddhism"

Buddhism and Other Faiths

Buddhism is like the palm of the hand, the other religions being the fingers.

~ The great Khan Mongka

Buddhism is Not a Melancholy Religion

Some people think that Buddhism is a dark and melancholy religion. It is not so; it will make its followers bright and cheerful. When we read the birth stories of Bodhisattva, the future Buddha we learn how He cultivated the Perfection of patience and forbearance. It will help us to be cheerful even in the midst of great troubles and to take delight in others' welfare.

~ Ven. Gnanatitoka, A German Buddhist Scholar

Buddhism and Social Welfare

Those who think that Buddhism is interested only in lofty ideals, high moral and philosophical thought, and ignores any social and economic welfare of people, are wrong. The Buddha was interested in the happiness of men. To him happiness was not possible without leading a pure life based on moral and spiritual principles. But he knew that leading such a life was hard in unfavorable material and social conditions. Buddhism does not consider material welfare as an end in itself; it is only a means to an end - a higher and nobler end. But it is a means which is indispensable, indispensable in achieving a higher purpose for man's happiness. So Buddhism recognizes the need of certain minimum material conditions favorable to spiritual success - even that of a monk engaged in meditation in some solitary place.

~ Ven. Dr. W. Rahula, "What the Buddha Taught"

Example From Ashoka

Turn to Buddhism, and you will read that Ashoka not only preached a lofty morality but exercised the power of kingship in a manner that shames our modern sovereigns of other faiths.

~ Geoffrey Mortimer, A Writer in the West

Fixed Principles

It will not be possible even today in regard to Buddhism that it is worn out because it is rooted upon certain fixed principles that can never be altered.

~ Gertrude Garatt

Dhamma is the Law

All the teachings of the Buddha can be summed up in one word: "Dhamma". This law of righteousness, exists not only in a man's heart but it exists in the universe also. All the universe is an embodiment or revelation of Dhamma. The laws of nature which modern science have discovered are revelations of Dhamma. If the Moon rises and sets, it is because of Dhamma, for Dhamma is that law residing in the universe that makes matter act in the ways  studied in physics, chemistry, zoology, botany and astronomy. Dhamma exists in the universe just as Dhamma exists in the heart of man. If man will live by Dhamma, he will escape misery and attain Nibbána.

~ Ven. A. Mahinda

Persecution

Of the great religions of history I prefer Buddhism, especially in its earliest forms, because it has had the smallest element of persecution.

~ Bertrand Russell

Appreciation of Buddhism

Although one may originally be attracted by its remoteness, one can appreciate the real value of Buddhism only when one judges it by the result it produces in one's own life from day to day.

~ Dr. Edward Conze, A Western Buddhist Scholar

Knowledge is the Key to Higher Path

Without sensuous pleasure would life be endurable? Without belief in immortality can man be moral? Without worship of a God can man advance towards righteousness? Yes, replies the Buddha, these ends can be attained by knowledge; knowledge alone is the key to the higher path, the one worth pursuing in life; knowledge is that which brings calmness and peace to life, which renders man indifferent to the storms of the phenomenal world.

~ Prof. Karl Pearson

Fortunate Buddhist

How fortunate are the humble followers of the Buddha who have not inherited the fallacy of infallibility of any revealed book from the very beginning.

~ Ven. Prof. Ánanda Kaushalyayana

Buddhism and Rites

Buddhism is thus a personal religion, and there is little room in it for ritual and ceremony. An act done with an idea of one's own conditioning ceases to be a rite. Much of the seemingly ritual of present-day Buddhism, when seen thus are really not rites.

~ Dr. W.F. Jayasuriya, author of "The Psychology and Philosophy of Buddhism"

Savior

If the Buddha is to be called a 'savior' at all, it is only in the sense that he discovered and showed the Path to Liberation, Nirvana. But we must tread the Path ourselves.

~ Ven. Dr W. Rahula, "What the Buddha Taught"

No Force

To force oneself to believe and to accept a thing without understanding is political, and not spiritual or intellectual.

~ Ven. Dr. W. Rahula, "What the Buddha Taught"

Respect Other Religions

One should not honor only one's own religion and condemn the religions of others, but one should honor others' religions for this or that reason. So doing, one helps one's own religion to grow and renders service to the religions of others too. In acting otherwise one digs the grave of one's own religion and also does harm to other religions. Whosoever honors his own religion and condemns other religions, does so indeed through devotion to his own religion, thinking "I will glorify my own religion". But on the contrary, in so doing he injures his own religion more gravely. So concord is good: Let all listen, and be willing to listen to the doctrines professed by others.

~ Emperor Ashoka

A Genuine Pride

A religion or a way of life is judged not merely by the truths it proclaims but also by the change that it brings about in the life of its followers. So far as this test is concerned Buddhism has a record of achievements in which we can take a genuine pride.

~ D. Valisinha, General Secretary, Maha Bodhi Society, Author of "Buddhist way of life"

Unconsciousness

It can also be said that India discovered the unconsciousness earlier than the Western psychologists. For them the unconscious consists in the totality of the impressions which slumber in the individual as the inheritance from his previous existence. The Buddhist technique of meditation, which is concerned with the latent forces, is thus a fore-runner of modern psychoanalysis, of autogenic mental training etc.

~ Prof. Von Glasenapp, A German Scholar

Rational Analysis

Buddhism is the only great religion of the world that is consciously and frankly based on a systematic rational analysis of the problems of life and of the way to its solution.

~ Moni Bagghee, "Our Buddha"

Enemy of Religion

There is little of what we call dogma in the Buddha's teaching. With a breadth of view rare in that age and not common in ours he refuses to stifle criticism. Intolerance seemed to him the greatest enemy of religion.

~ Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, "Gautama The Buddha"

Sectarianism

Most neophytes of some other religions are controlled by their Guru and are forbidden to read the scriptures, doctrines, magazines, booklets and tracts of other religions. This very rarely happens within Buddhism.

~ Phra Khantipalo, "Tolerance"

The Five Precepts

These five precepts, indicate five arterial directions in which the Buddhist self-control is to be exercised. Thus, the first rule calls upon him to control the passion of anger, the second, the desire for material possessions, the third, the lust of the flesh, the fourth, cowardice and malevolence (the causes of untruthfulness), the fifth, the craving for unwholesome excitement.

~ Edmond Holmes, "The creed of Buddha"

Man Who Achieved a Great Victory

One of the first scholars to begin the work of translating the Pali Literature into English, was the son of a well-known clergyman. His object in undertaking the work was to prove the superiority of Christianity Over Buddhism. He failed in this task but he achieved a greater victory than he expected. He became a Buddhist. We must never forget the happy chance  which prompted him to undertake this work and thereby make the precious Dhamma available to thousands in the West. The name of this great scholar was Dr. Rhys Davids.

~ Ven. A. Mahinda, "Blue Print of happiness"

Human Destiny

Over great areas of the world it still survives. It is possible that in contact with Western science, and inspired by the spirit of history, the original teaching of Gotama, revived and purified, may yet play a large part in the direction of human destiny.

~ H. G. Wells

Parliamentary System Borrowed From Buddhism

It is probable that the tendency towards self-government evidenced by these various forms of corporate activity received fresh impetus from the Buddhist rejection of the authority of the priesthood and further but its doctrine of equality as exemplified by its repudiation of caste. It is indeed to the Buddhist books that we have to turn for an account of the manner in which the affairs of the early examples of representative self-governing institutions were conducted. It may come as a surprise to many to learn that in the assemblies of Buddhists in India 2500 years and more ago are to be found the rudiments of our own parliamentary practice of the present day. The dignity of the assembly was preserved by the appointment of a special officer - the embryo of "Mr. Speaker" in our house of commons. A second officer was appointed to see that when necessary a quorum was secured- the prototype of the Parliamentary Chief Whip, in our own system. A member initiating business did so in the form of a motion which was then open to discussion. In some cases, this was done once only, in others three times, thus anticipating the practice of Parliament in requiring that a bill be read a third time before it becomes law. If discussion disclosed a difference of opinion the matter was decided by the vote of the majority, the voting being by ballot.

~ Marquess of Zetland, a former Viceroy of India, Author of "Legacy of India "

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~ Prof. Rhys Davids

Man Gives Law to Nature

Law in the scientific sense is essentially a product of the human mind and has no meaning apart from man. There is more meaning in the statement that man gives law to nature than in its converse that nature gives laws to man.

~ Prof. Karl Pearson

Man is Not Ready Made

Man today is the result of millions of repetitions of thoughts and acts. He is not ready made; he becomes, and is still becoming. His character is predetermined by his own choice, the thought, the act, which he chooses, that by habit, he becomes.

~ Ven. Piyadassi

Man Can Stand on His Own Feet

Buddhism makes man stand on his own feet and rouses self-confidence and energy.

~ Ven. Narada Thera, "Buddhism in a nutshell"

Man Can Cease to Be Crushed

Man is greater than the blind forces of nature because even though he is crushed by them he remains superior by virtue of his understanding of them. Again, Buddhism carries the truth further: it shows that by means of understanding man can also control his circumstances. He can cease to be crushed by them, and use their laws to raise himself.

~ Pascal

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Belief in Soul is The Cause of All the Trouble

Buddhism stands unique in the history of human thought in denying the existence of such a Soul, Self, or Atman. According to the teaching of the Buddha, the idea of self is an imaginary, false belief which has no corresponding reality, and it produces harmful thoughts of 'me' and 'mine', selfish desire, craving, attachment, hatred, ill-will, conceit, pride, egoism, and other defilements, impurities and problems. It is the source of all the troubles in the world from personal conflicts to wars between nations. In short, to this false view can be traced all the evils in the world.

~ Ven. Dr. W. Rahula, "What the Buddha Taught "

Life After Death is Not a Mystery

The difference between death and birth is only a thought-moment: the last thought-moment in the so-called next life, which in fact is the continuity of the same series. During this life itself, too, one thought-moment conditions the next thought-moment. So, from the Buddhist point of view, the question of life after death is not a great mystery, and a Buddhist is never worried about this problem.

~ Ven. Dr. W. Rahula, "What the Buddha Taught"

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Buddhism and Modern Science

'I have often said, and I shall say again and again, that between Buddhism and modern Science there exists a close intellectual bond.'

~ Sir Edwin Arnold

Buddhism copes with Science

If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.

~ Albert Einstein

A Spiritual Science

Buddhism is, on the contrary, a system of thought, a religion, a spiritual science and a way of life, which is reasonable, practical and all-embracing. For 2500 years it has satisfied the spiritual needs of nearly one-third of mankind. It appeals to the West, insists on self-reliance coupled with tolerance for the other's points of view, embraces science, religion, philosophy, psychology, ethics and art, and points to man alone as the creator of his present life and sole designer of his destiny.

~ Christmas Humphreys

Buddhism begins where science ends

Science can give no assurance herein. But Buddhism can meet the Atomic Challenge, because the supra-mundane knowledge of Buddhism begins where science leaves off. And this is clear enough to anyone who has made a study of Buddhism. For, through Buddhist Meditation, the atomic constituents making up matter have been seen and felt, and the sorrow, or un-satisfactoriness (or Dukkha), of their 'arising and passing away' (dependent on causes) has made itself with what we call a `soul' or 'atma' - the illusion of Sakkayaditthi, as it is called in the Buddha's teaching.

~ Egerton C. Baptist, "Supreme Science of the Buddha"

Cause and Effect Instead of Rewards and Punishments

According to the Buddha the world is not so constituted. Buddhists believe in a just rational of Kamma that operates automatically and speak in terms of cause and effect instead of rewards and punishments.

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Salvation Without God

For the first time in the history of the world, Buddha proclaimed a salvation, which each man could gain for himself and by himself in this world during this life, without the least help from a personal God or gods. He strongly inculcated the doctrine of self-reliance, of purity, of courtesy, of enlightenment, of peace and of universal love. He strongly urged the necessity of knowledge, for without wisdom psychic insight could not be got in his life.

~ Prof. Eliot, "Buddhism and Hinduism"

Buddha and the Salvation

It is not the Buddha who delivers men, but he teaches them to deliver themselves, even as he has delivered himself. They accept his teaching of the truth, not because it comes from him, but, because of personal conviction, aroused by his words, arises by the light of their own spirit.

~ Dr. Oldenburg, A German Buddhist scholar

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Buddha Does Not Demand Belief

The Buddha has not merely awakened to the supreme reality: he also presents his higher knowledge that is superior to that of "all gods and men" most clearly and free from all mythological disguise and mythical clothing. Here, however, it is given in so cogent a form that it presents itself as positively and self-evident to the person who is able to follow him. For this reason the Buddha does not demand any belief, but promises knowledge.

~ George Grimm, "The doctrine of the Buddha"

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Post-Buddhistic Hinduism

The various ways in which Buddhism influenced, modified, transformed and revitalized Hindu religion among all the philosophical Sutras of the Hindus, are admittedly post-Buddhistic. The presupposition of Indian philosophy in the doctrine of Karma and rebirth and other pre-Buddhistic system have attained fullest development from Buddhistic literature and been established on philosophical basis.

~ Dr. S. N. Dasgupta

Universal Ethics

None of the pre-Buddhistic religions of India may be said to have been able to formulate a code of ethics and religion that was universally and compulsorily valid for all.

~ Dr. S. N. Dasgupta

Buddhism is Buddhism

Buddhism and Jainism were certainly not Hinduism or even the Vedic Dharma. Yet they arose in India and were integral parts of Indian life, culture and philosophy. Buddhist or Jaina in India is a hundred per cent product of Indian thought and culture, yet neither is a Hindu by faith. It is entirely misleading to refer to Indian culture as Hindu culture.

~ Nehru, "Discovery of India"

Eternal Debt to the Buddha

It is my deliberate opinion that the essential part of the teachings of the Buddha now forms an integral part of Hinduism. It is impossible for Hindu India today to retrace her steps and go behind the great reformation that Gautama effected in Hinduism. By his immense sacrifice, by his great renunciation, and by the immaculate purity of his life he left an indelible impression upon Hinduism, and Hinduism owes an eternal debt of gratitude to that great teacher.

~ Mahatma Gandhi, "Maha Bodhi"

Dominant Creed

A system, which knows no God in the Western sense, which denies a soul to man, which counts the belief in immortality a blunder, which refuses any efficacy to prayer and sacrifice, which bides men to look to nothing but their own efforts for salvation, which in its original purity knew nothing of vows of obedience and never sought the aid of the secular arm, yet spread over a considerable motley of the old world with marvelous rapidity and is still, which whatever base admixture of forcing superstitions, the dominant creed of a large fraction of mankind.

~ T. H. Huxley

Buddhist Idea Of Sin

Its idea of sin differs somewhat from the Christian idea. Sin to the Buddhist is mere ignorance or stupidity. The wicked man is an ignorant man. He doesn't need punishment and condemnation so much as he needs instruction. He is not regarded as 'violating God's commands' or as one who must beg for divine mercy and forgiveness. Rather it is necessary for the sinner's friends to make him reason in the human way. The Buddhist does not believe the sinner can escape the consequences in prayerful attempts to bargain with God.

~ John Walters. "Mind unshaken"

Gods Need Salvation

For the first time in human history the Buddha admonished, entreated and appealed to people not to hurt a living being, not to offer prayer or praise or sacrifice to gods. With all the eloquence at his command the exalted one vehemently proclaimed that gods are also in dire need of salvation themselves.

~ Prof. Rhys Davids

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Unsatisfactory World

Buddha was not angry with the world. He thought of it as unsatisfactory and transitory rather than wicked, as ignorant rather than rebellious. He troubled little about people who would not listen to him and showed no nervous irritability.

~ Prof. Eliot, "Buddhism and Hinduism"

A Great Battle

The whole universe is a vast field of battle. Everywhere there is fighting. Existence is nothing but a vain struggle against germs of dreadful diseases, molecules against molecules, atoms against atoms, and electrons against electrons. Mind is still more a scene of battle. Forms, sounds, tastes etc. are resultants of counteracting and belligerent forces. The very existence of war proves that there is a state of Perfect Peace. It is what we call Nibbána.

~ Ven. Narada Thera. "The Bodhisattva Ideal"

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