Enlisted here Top 100 inspirational quotes of S. N. Goenka Guruji
You alone are your lord,
you are your protector.
Of your downfall or rise
you alone are the author.
—
Whom do you worship and pray to?
Of whom are you afraid?
You alone are your enemy,
you alone are your friend.
—
Old age, sickness, death
— we face these all alone.
No one can share them with us,
though many be near and dear.
Our own wrong actions
carry the tidings of suffering.
Why unfairly blame
poor God?
On another’s path, even by mistake,
do not spread obstacles.
You make your own path arduous,
blocked with spikes.
If you clear spikes, stones, and thorns
from another’s path,
by itself your own path
will be strewn with flowers.
The actions of a defiled mind
give only bitter fruit.
By causing harm to others
you harm yourself as well.
All beings are mere dolls of clay
and turn to ashes or dust.
Only their Dhamma goes along
to the realm of virtue, bringing happiness.
Muslims celebrate the Id,
Hindus their own festival.
May all people abandon enmity;
may they love each other.
The mind is protector and devourer,
it is a two-edged sword:
it sets up calamities
and tears them to pieces.
Neither enemy nor antagonist
can harm you as much
as can your own mind
when it is defiled.
Mother, father, dear kinsmen
— all do you good.
Far more good would do your mind
if it was bright and clear.
As long as the mind is darkened,
as long as the mind is muddied,
it is crooked
and twists like a serpent.
Mind is the root of our bondage,
mind is the means of our liberation.
A mind that acts wrongly remains shackled,
an unpolluted mind becomes freed.
Hidden within the mind
is a lode of heavenly pleasures;
burning within the mind
are also the fires of hell.
The uprightness of your mind
is the essence of your happiness.
The crookedness of your mind
is a weight upon your head.
In the mind arises aversion,
in the mind arises craving.
In the mind arises Dhamma,
in the mind arises detachment.
If you seek a mind at peace,
strip away its stains.
A sullied mind remains miserable,
whether you are Buddhist or Jain.
A stained mind remains agitated,
an unstained mind is joyful.
An unstained mind is liberated,
a stained mind is in bondage.
Recite God’s name and praise him,
chant your fill of prayers
— as long as your mind is sullied,
liberation is far off.
May our hearts be pure,
filled with virtue;
may the pool of the mind ripple
with compassion, love, and truth.
When a person of morality concentrates,
insight awakens.
The mind becomes steadfast in equanimity;
this is the greatest happiness.
Searching through the dictionary
you find the literal meaning,
but without your own experience
how can you find the ultimate meaning?
Human life is like a jewel
that has been idly squandered.
Merely reciting the Dhamma,
you do not taste its savour.
How many days have passed
in discussions and debates?
The time has come for Dhamma;
taste the savour of Dhamma.
Don’t do it, fool, don’t do it!
Don’t play intellectual games.
Merely by intellectual games
whose thirst can be quenched?
Lighting lamps outside,
we keep celebrating.
If the inner lamp is lit,
happiness spreads all around.
If you apply it, it is Dhamma;
otherwise it is empty talk.
When the sun rises, dawn comes;
otherwise — blackest night.
In this world of perils
no one is safe;
one who has reached ultimate truth
alone is well-protected.
Stop devilish and brutish behaviour,
abandon arrogance and pride.
You may or may not make yourself divine,
but certainly you make yourself human.
One who accepts the existence of truth
is really a believer.
One who does not accept it,
know to be an unbeliever.
Every moment may equanimity be strong;
every moment remain detached.
Keep undisturbed by impermanence,
and thus cultivate the factors
of enlightenment.
Past moments are gone,
those to come are far away.
This moment that has come before you
— make full use of it.
Time is so precious,
time is not for sale in the market.
Even for the wealth of three worlds
you can’t buy back the time that has passed.
If there is no peace in the minds of individuals, how can there be peace in the world? Make peace in your own mind first.