“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think,” “The past is gone, the future is not yet here, but you have this moment,” and “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love.”
Buddha quotes
These Buddha quotes speak to me and I am most influenced by the idea that we become what we think.
During my first trip to South Korea in 1991 I was a bit all over the place but I still had fun.
The highlight of the trip was due to the Soccer World Cup being in Korea and Japan so they had temple stay for the visiting tourists.
I went and did temple stay in the mountains at a beautiful Buddhist temple around Kwangju.
I sat with a Buddhist monk with a few others and he had a shaved head and wore grey robes and he served us herbal green tea and explained about Buddhism and answered any of our questions.
That night we all slept on the floor of a temple and I think it was at four in the morning I was woken by a monk to pray with them in a different temple with a huge gold Buddha statue.
I can’t remember how often the monks bowed from fully standing up to chest down on the ground but it was over one hundred.
I tried to keep up imitating them but couldn’t.
However, what was most remarkable was the weather during this early morning prayer ritual as there was a huge electrical storm and extremely loud claps of thunder. My mind felt cleansed by the ritual and weather.
The next morning, they served us all a vegetarian meal for all the monks and visitors.
The following Buddha quote reminds me of this temple stay:
“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.”
Buddha
I have seen the Dalai Lama twice in Australia. Once at Darling Harbour Convention Centre in 1991 and a second time in Brisbane about ten years ago. What I noticed most between both visits is that the second time he didn’t rely on an interpreter as much and his English skills had gone through the roof.
The highlight of the second visit with my friend Raven was when he walked out into the crowd and hugged a woman who had shared her troubles with everyone.
When I was in Brisbane, I was sitting outside the stadium in the park watching the Dalai Lama on a big screen on the grass.
I like the following Dalai Lama quote:
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.”
Dalai Lama
I also agree that compassion and platonic love are very important not as mere luxuries.
Over the last five years I have studied Buddha and Dalai Lama quotes, images and influences in my ten drawings a day project and hundreds of essays that feature on my website.
Three Buddha and Dalai Lama inspired drawings from my website and the last is a self-portrait with the word compassion which is at the centre of Buddhist philosophy.
In conclusion even though I have grown up as a Catholic going to a Catholic Church as a child and a Catholic boy’s school I also have a deep fascination with both the teachings of Buddha and of the Dalai Lama as well.