A Quote by Gautama Buddha

Be lamps unto yourselves; be your own confidence. Hold truth within yourselves. — © Gautama Buddha
Be lamps unto yourselves; be your own confidence. Hold truth within yourselves.

Quote Author

Gautama Buddha
567 BC - 484 BC
Be a lamp to yourself. Be your own confidence. Hold on to the truth within yourself as to the only truth.
Be lamps unto yourselves. Be refuges unto yourselves. Take yourself no external refuge. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Hold fast to the truth as a refuge. Look not for a refuge in anyone besides yourselves. And those, Ananda, who either now or after I am dead, Shall be a lamp unto themselves, Shall betake themselves as no external refuge, But holding fast to the truth as their lamp, Holding fast to the truth as their refuge, Shall not look for refuge to anyone else besides themselves, It is they who shall reach to the very topmost height; But they must be anxious to learn.
Therefore, be ye lamps unto yourselves, be ye a refuge to yourselves. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp; hold fast as a refuge to the truth. Look not for refuge to anyone besides yourselves.
For the dharma to become firsthand knowledge-to feel the ‘ouch’ of it-you have to live intimately with it, hold it up to scrutiny, and let it hold you up to scrutiny. In the end, the ball is always thrown back to you: ‘Be a lamp unto yourself,’ says the Buddha. In other words, you must ultimately find the way on your own, by putting your ideas of the truth to the test. Your questions light the way.
Within my own life, I read all the beloved novels by lamps of vegetable oil; I saw the Standard Oil invading my own village, I saw gas lamps in the Chinese shops in Shanghai; and I saw their elimination by electric lights.
Be your own lamps. Be your own shelters. Hang on to the truth as a lamp. Hang on to the truth as a refuge.
All things of beauty are not theirs alone who hold the fee; but unto him no less who can enjoy, than unto them who own, are sweetest uses given to posses.
I urge you all, fervently I urge you, to state unto the universe, unto the multiverse: I AM, I AM, I AM! I am life. I am God. I AM. As you state the knowingness within your breast, you raise your frequency. The vibration of I AM will begin to pulsate within you.
The mortalist enemy unto knowledge, and that which hath done the greatest execution unto truth, has been a preemptory adhesion unto authority.
You are your own highest authority. Do not place your source of authority outside of you. Go within to see if the truth you've found is in harmony with the truth you find in your heart.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and you will make of their circumstances the litter you have made of your own.
This Government, the offspring of your own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support.
Therefore, be islands unto yourselves. Be your own refuge. Have recourse to none else for refuge. Hold fast to the Dharma as a refuge. Resort to no other refuge. Whosoever, either now or after I am gone, shall be islands unto themselves, shall seek no eternal refuge, it is they, among my disciples who shall reach the very topmost height! But they must be keen to progress.
The secret gem of truth has been hidden in the core of your own heart all along. My invitation is to stop all movement of your mind away from truth so that you can discover directly, for yourself, this jewel that is alive within you.
Whatever you may suffer, speak the truth. Be worthy of the entire confidence of your associates. Consider what is right as to what must be done. It is not necessary that you should keep your property, or even your life, but it is necessary that you should hold fast your integrity.
Truth is the key to unlocking the door to divine confidence. This is a truth that can be felt only when you get out of your head and into your heart. When you’re blind to this truth, you’re left to the limited power of your human will.
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