Gautama Buddha: Life & Words

This book is an anthology of 162 quotes from Gautama Buddha and 55 selected facts about Gautama Buddha. Gautama was the family name.The word Buddha means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one."Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or simply the Buddha, was a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.Gautama taught Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the Sramana (renunciation) movement.Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers.Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.Most scholars accept that he lived, taught and founded a monastic order during the Mahajanapada era in India during the reign of Bimbisara, the ruler of Magadha empire, and died during the early years of the reign of Ajatshatru, who was the successor of Bimbisara, thus making him a contemporary of Mahavira, the Jain teacher.The times of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE.Siddharta Gautama was born as a Kshatriya, the son of Śuddhodana, "an elected chief of the Shakya clan", whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime.His mother, Queen Maha Maya and Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess.You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.”“What we think, we become.”“You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.”“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”“The past is already gone; the future is not yet here. There's only one moment for you to live, and that is the present moment.”“Three things can not hide for long: the Moon, the Sun and the Truth.”“Nothing is forever except change.”“To understand everything is to forgive everything.”“You only lose what you cling to.”“A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.”“A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden.”“A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”“A jug fills drop by drop.”