Note: the first two paragraphs are introductory and are derived from the first post in this series. I’ll continue to repost them, in case this is your first time reading a post from this series.
When I was still a doctoral candidate at Sofia University, one of the courses I completed was “World Religions.” This was one of the classes I enjoyed the most during my time at Sofia University. I’d never had such broad exposure to the world’s religions before and this class really allowed me to gain a better understanding of them.
One of the papers I wrote for that class really tied in the fact that I was in a clinical psychology PhD program. The purpose of the paper was to collect quotes from scriptures of the various world religions that I could use with clients/patients when I became a therapist. While I’m no longer pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology, the quotes I collected could certainly be of use, so I thought I’d share them here.
Today’s collection of scriptures for guidance comes courtesy of Buddhism. Enjoy!
Anxiety
One who has mastered Dharma, one much learned,
Has no such thought as, Ah! ‘tis well with me!
Look you! How tortured is he that has possessions!
One to another human folk are bound. (Udana 13)
Anger
Conquer anger by love. (Dhammapada 223)
If an evil man, on hearing of what is good, comes and creates a disturbance, you should hold your peace. You must not angrily upbraid him; then he who has come to curse you will merely harm himself. (Sutra of 42 Sections 7)
Addiction
What are the six channels for dissipating wealth? Taking intoxicants; loitering in the streets at unseemly hours; constantly visiting shows and fairs; addiction to gambling; association with evil companions; the habit of idleness….
Gambling and women, drink and dance and song,
Sleeping by day and prowling around by night,
Friendship with wicked men, hardness of heart,
These causes six bring ruin to a man.
Gambling and drinking, chasing after those
Women as dear as life to other men,
Following the fools, not the enlightened ones,
He wanes as the darker half of the moon.
The drunkard always poor and destitute;
Even while drinking, thirsty; haunting bars;
Sinks into debt as into water stone,
Soon robs his family of their good name.
One who habitually sleeps by day
And looks upon the night as time to rise
Licentious and a drunkard all the time,
He does not merit the rank of householder. (Digha Nikaya iii.182-85 Sigalovada Sutta)
Death
For death carries away the man whose mind is self-satisfied with his children and his flocks, even as a torrent carries away a sleeping village. (20 Dhammapada, 287)
Depression
We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. (Buddha)
Grief
My sickness comes from my ignorance and thirst for existence, and it will last as long as do the sickness of all living beings. Were all living beings to be free from sickness, I also would not be sick… As the parents will suffer as long as their only son does not recover from his sickness, just so, the bodhisattva loves all loving beings as if each were his only child. He becomes sick when they are sick and is cured when they are cured. (Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti 5)
In the perilous round of mortality,
In continuous unending misery,
Firmly tied to the passions
As a yak is to its tail;
Smothered by greed and infatuation,
Blinded and seeing nothing;
Seeking not the Buddha, the Mighty,
And the Truth that ends suffering,
But deeply sunk in heresy,
By suffering seeking riddance of suffering;
For the sake of all these creatures,
My heart is stirred with great pity. (Lotus Sutra 2)
Guilt
Though a man be soiled with the sins of a lifetime, let him but love me,
rightly resolved, in utter devotion. I see no sinner, that man is holy.
Holiness soon shall refashion his nature to peace eternal. O son of
Kunti, of this be certain: the man who loves me shall not perish. (Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 3.30)
If you liked this post, you might like one of the other posts in this series:
Filed under: History, Perspective, Philosophy, Quotes, Sofia University Tagged: Addiction, Anger, Anxiety, Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist, Death, Depression, Digha Nikaya, Gautama Buddha, Grief, Guilt, Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, Sigalovada Sutta, Spirituality
