Mark Zocchi - Buddhas Little Book of Life: Daily Wisdom From the Great Masters, Teachers, and Writers of All Time

Copyright 2017

by Mark Zocchi

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Previously published in 2015 as Sayings of the Buddha and Other Masters by Brolga Publishing Pty Ltd, ISBN: 9780909608323.

Cover design by Jim Warner

Cover photograph Steve Vidler / Superstock

Illustrations by Mark Zocchi

Interior by Kathryn Sky-Peck

Typeset in Weiss

Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.

Charlottesville, VA 22906

Distributed by Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

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ISBN: 978-1-57174-799-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017952871

Printed in Canada

MAR

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Contents

Inspired by teachings of the Buddha, Great Masters, teachers, and writers, this book is designed to help people connect to a spiritual path and find their own divinity.

It is overflowing with wonderful quotes, sayings, and insights, each presented alone, allowing the reader to dip in at any time. Each reading is guaranteed to inspire either immediately or to provide food for thought.

Buddha means the Awakened One and sayings have been selected from the Buddha, who was Siddhartha before his enlightenment and Gautama Buddha, or Shakyamuni Buddha, after his enlightenment some 2,500 years ago.

Additional quotes and sayings have been chosen from other Buddhas, masters of spirituality and inspiration, such as Padmasambhava, Milarepa, Shantideva, Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche, and Longchenpa. To their timeless wisdom has been added the philosophies of current-day Masters such as His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Sogyal Rinpoche.

Great Masters, teachers, and writers are found throughout humanity and from many diverse traditions. Words of wisdom and peace from Zen Master Roshi, Chuang Tzu, Cicero, Sufi poet Rumi, Lao Tzu, Mother Teresa, Thomas Merton, and William Shakespeare are also presented as part of this collection.

Buddhist tradition holds that all of us have our own Buddha nature but have not yet realized it, although each of us has glimpses into our true nature.

It is my wish that this book, inspired by these Masters, will encourage you to seek truth, peace, and wisdom in all you do.

MARK ZOCCHI

Of what avail is it if we can travel to the moon,

If we cannot cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves,

This is the most important of all journeys

And without it all of the rest are useless.

THOMAS MERTON

Always connected

In my heart

No need to grasp

Smile with warm Heart

MARK ZOCCHI

We accept the graceful falling

Of mountain cherry blossoms,

But it is much harder for us

To fall away from our own

Attachment to the world.

ZEN

Simplicity, Patience, and Compassion

These three are your greatest treasures.

Simple in actions and in thought,

You return to the source of being.

Patience with both friends and enemies,

You accord with the way things are.

Compassionate toward yourself,

You reconcile all beings in the world.

TAO TE CHING

When my house burned down

I gained

An unobstructed view

of the moonlight sky

ZEN (RENUNCIATION/LETTING GO)

We find simplicity in our hearts and lives through paying attention to the roots of our complexity and letting go.

CHRISTINA FELDMAN

Out of clutter,

find simplicity.

From discord,

find harmony.

In the middle of difficulty

lies opportunity.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

In the pursuit of Knowledge,

every day something is gained.

In the pursuit of freedom,

every day something is let go.

TAO

To abandon what is harmful,

To adopt what is wholesome,

To purify the heart and mind:

This is the teaching of the Buddha.

BUDDHA

Before enlightenment, all things in the outer world are deceptive and confusing. After enlightenment, we see all things as magic shadow-plays, and all objective things become helpful friends.

MILAREPA

To free oneself of knowledge is to die, and thus one lives.

KRISHNAMURTI

Desire, anger and delusion are negative forces,

but they also represent the energy and majesty

of the Buddha-nature in its elemental state.

The practice of Buddhism is concerned with becoming

aware of these passions and calming them

until they are transformed into joy, warmth,

generosity, energy and wisdom.

Once familiar with these forces,

we can work with and transform them.

HIS HOLINESS THE 14TH DALAI LAMA

If you see the soul in every living being,

you see truly.

If you see immortality in the heart of

every mortal being, you see truly.

THE BHAGAVAD GITA