Quotes by Bodhidharma

“Every suffering is a seed, because suffering impels us to seek wisdom.”

But people of the deepest understanding look within, distracted by nothing. Since a clear mind is the Buddha, they attain the understanding of a Buddha without using the mind.

Not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is Zen.

A Buddha doesn’t observe precepts. A Buddha doesn’t do good or evil. A Buddha isn’t energetic or lazy. A Buddha is someone who does nothing, someone who can’t even focus his mind on a Buddha. A Buddha isn’t a Buddha. Don’t think about Buddhas.

Buddha means awareness, the awareness of body and mind that prevents evil from arising in either.

If you use your mind to study reality, you wont understand either your mind or reality. If you study reality without using your mind, youll understand both.

Freeing oneself from words is liberation.

If we should be blessed by some great reward, such as fame or fortune, its the fruit of a seed planted by us in the past.

Not engaging in ignorance is wisdom.

A Buddha is someone who finds freedom in good fortune and bad.

To go from mortal to Buddha, you have to put an end to karma, nurture your awareness, and accept what life brings.

People of this world are deluded. They’re always longing for something-always, in a word, seeking. But the wise wake up. They choose reason over custom. They fix their minds on the sublime and let their bodies change with the seasons. All phenomena are empty. They contain nothing worth desiring.

The mind is the root from which all things grow if you can understand the mind, everything else is included. It’s like the root of a tree. All a tree’s fruit and flowers, branches and leaves depend on its root. If you nourish its root, a tree multiplies. If you cut its root, it dies. Those who understand the mind reach enlightenment with minimal effort.

But deluded people dont realize that their own mind is the Buddha. They keep searching outside.

All know the way few actually walk it.

But while success and failure depend on conditions, the mind neither waxes nor wanes.

Our nature is the mind. And the mind is our nature.

Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teachers help.

Life and death are important. Dont suffer them in vain.

Worship means reverence and humility it means revering your real self and humbling delusions.