We are all enchanted by the pearls of wisdom that we have received from Gautam Buddha. Interestingly, his quotes find more relevance now when peace and happiness seem to be eluding many. Siddharth Gautam, a prince of the Shakya clan in Nepal, renounced royalty to lead a life of meditation and asceticism, a very high level of self-discipline. He lived around the 5th BCE and was responsible for establishing Buddhism. People of many countries, especially South Asia, follow Buddhism.
The Buddha’s words resonate with one and all, whenever we find ourselves in the midst of stress, anxiety or a general sense of disbelief.
Buddha’s sayings are nuggets of unparalleled wisdom. His simplest of words leave deep impact, capable of making our lives richer. Here we decode 5 of his profound quotes, which make an instant connection, especially when the pace of life gets too fast.
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change”
As a child, I vividly remember visiting the much-awaited annual flower exhibition in my city as soon as spring arrived. Recently, my one-and-a-half-year-old paused at an orange, pink and crimson hued Dahlia and expressed her astonishment with her mouth wide open. She stood there for a good five minutes, soaking in its beauty, admiring at the perfection of nature displayed.
This mindful observation of the flower by her fascinated us. As adults, we forget to pause and admire the small joys and things of beauty. We are either caught up in the whirlwind of chasing our goals or are simply staring at our devices. This quote by the Buddha is very relevant now as mindfulness or ‘being in the present’ has become a mammoth challenge.
Being in the moment to absorb its significance can be life altering. We are much too swayed by the events of past or anticipating the future to truly soak in the present. Indeed, once we relearn to remain in the present moment, our mind blooms to its full potential. So start staying in the present wholeheartedly to bring huge contentment in daily life.
“Every morning we are born again. What we do today matters most”
Even if you think you had the worst day yesterday, today can be a brand new start. With the rising sun and a good night’s sleep, the mind and our body agree to a new beginning. A new day has the capacity to erase mistakes and regrets and begin again.
Thus, this quote by the Buddha is eternally true and relevant. When humans understand that some days will always be difficult and one might feel hopeless, embarrassed or troubled, there is only positivity to look forward to the next day. With time, we even get clarity on how we could have handled things better.
Thankfully, we are given a fresh new opportunity in the form of tomorrow to give our best. Once we decide to change the course of our thoughts and put them into action, a bright and fruitful day arrives
Sure, it is important to take lessons from the past but one must not hold it too closely to the heart. Remember, what you are doing in the present holds maximum importance.
Sulking over yesterday does not make any sense as it ruins today as well. So learn to use every opportunity and live it up, build on the moment and make the most of it.
“If you genuinely loved yourself, you could never hurt another.”
What we have, we give to others. The way we feel about ourselves is reflected in the way we behave and interact with others. When you genuinely love yourself, you are bound to transfer that love to those around. How confident you are about yourself is translated into your behaviour towards others.
Hurting another person, whether your loved one or otherwise, has more to do with how you feel about yourself. This is also central to the belief that what you give comes back. This Gautam Buddha quote is truly profound as we see the sentiments of our youth get hurt and feelings not reciprocated often due to a rise in technology and generational divides. The idea is to love oneself and remember the same love when we interact with those we want in our life.
“There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path”
Observe a child closely and you will find him or her extracting happiness out of any situation, even giggling and having fun at mundane things. However, when we grow up, we are conditioned to attach happiness to our achievements. As a result, we forget to enjoy the path and the special moments. We keep on waiting for the moment of success to arrive, to feel any joy or elation.
The Buddha believes that happiness is hidden in every moment. If you are trying to improvise and learn, happiness will not elude you. Further, when you reach your goal, you should feel extremely contended for culminating your efforts into what you set out to do. Because happiness is all about striving for betterment, one must enjoy the path and every effort made.
“Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else, but you are the one who gets burnt.”
Anger, the most natural emotion is the most intriguing one too. If not managed well, it can be really damaging. There may come incidents or people that invoke an angry reaction from us but while getting angry is one of our many emotional outflows, nursing or holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal which has the capacity to eventually burn our own selves.
This Buddha quote makes plenty of sense as anger and impatience are perpetually on a rise in an urban society. Holding anger keeps our mind agitated and builds stress and a stressful mind does not have clarity in thinking. This muddled state of being leads to misjudgement of situations and poor decision making. In the long run, anger impacts your wellbeing and turns situations adverse for you. Nursing anger therefore hurts you the most. Releasing anger quickly and with least harm done to oneself and others is the wisdom the Buddha is preaching in these profound lines.
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