“Mind precedes all phenomena. When the mind is known, all phenomena are known. When mastery over the mind is attained, mastery over all is attained”;
“The whole secret of existence lies in freeing oneself from fear. Do not fear what will happen to you; your future will not change because of it, but your present will become calm”;
“A thousand candles can be lit from a single candle, and its life will not be shortened. Happiness does not grow less when it is shared”;
“Three things cannot be hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth”;
“You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger”;
“To enjoy good health, to create true happiness for your family, to bring peace to all, one must first subdue and control one’s own mind. If a person can govern his consciousness, he will be able to find the path to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him”;
“Even a wise man will grow foolish if he does not improve himself”.
(Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha (623–543 BCE) was a spiritual teacher, one of the inspirations and the founder of one of the three world religions — Buddhism.)
According to Buddhist legends, the Buddha was born in present-day Nepal into the royal family of the Shakya clan, but renounced worldly life to become a wandering ascetic, and after a life of poverty, asceticism and meditation attained nirvana at Bodh Gaya, in the territory of present-day India. The Buddha then wandered across the lower part of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and founding an order.
According to legend, he attained bodhi (awakening, enlightenment) around 588 BCE. In classical Buddhist doctrine, a buddha is anyone who has discovered the dharma (the truth) and attained enlightenment. Buddhist legend holds that he died in the town of Kushinagar, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India, which is one of the four main holy places and a centre of Buddhist pilgrimage.
According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha taught the Middle Way between sensual pleasures and harsh asceticism, leading to liberation from ignorance, desires, rebirths and suffering. His main teachings are set out in the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, which are aimed at developing the qualities of the mind and states of consciousness, including ethical conduct, kindness to others and meditative practices such as control of the senses, mindfulness and dhyana (meditation).
Buddhism, having arisen in India, spread beyond the Indian subcontinent and developed into various traditions and practices. Today Buddhism is more prominent in the countries of South-East Asia and East Asia.
One of the main books in which the Buddha’s followers collected his sayings is called the Dhammapada. Besides wise sayings, it describes the main doctrines of Buddhism broadly and succinctly.