Old Path White Clouds: Walking in the Footsteps of the Buddha

Every person must make the teaching his own refuge. Live according to the teaching. Every person should be a lamp unto himself

Your majesty, that is the first fruit a bhikkhu reaps. He is liberated from racial, social, and caste prejudice. His human dignity is restored.”

Sense pleasures are like a pit of fire. They bring happiness only to those who are ill. A healthy person shuns the flames of sense desires.

Humility and open-mindedness are the two conditions necessary for making progress on the path

A person on the path must keep a humble, open heart, acknowledging that his understanding is incomplete.

the most important way to offer tribute to one’s parents is by living a life of happiness and virtue

There is only one thing the bowl is empty of and that is a separate, individual self. What is a separate, individual self? It is a self which exists completely on its own, independent of all other elements.

Ignorance magnifies suffering by millions of times.

As living beings, people have to suffer, more or less. However, those who devote themselves to the study and practice of the Dharma suffer much less than others, because they possess understanding, the fruit of their practice.

If you can see the teaching, you can see the Buddha. If you can see this body but not the teaching, it is of no value at all.