Lion's Roar

  • Meditation
  • Buddhist Wisdom
  • Life & Culture
  • The Magazine
  • Buddhadharma
  • Store

Lion's Roar

DONATE SUBSCRIBE
  • Meditation
  • Buddhist Wisdom
  • Life & Culture
  • The Magazine
  • Buddhadharma
  • Store
LR

Real Buddha Quotes About Fake Buddha Quotes

by Bodhipaksa| December 15, 2017

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
Buddha statue.

8th century Thai sculpture of the Buddha preaching. Image courtesy of The Met.

Bodhipaksa shares what the Buddha said about being misquoted, and speculates how he would’ve felt about fake Buddha quotes.

Some claim that the Buddha was too “spiritual” to care about being misquoted. Yet the Buddhist scriptures indicate this was something that he was concerned about. For example, from the Abhasita Sutta:

Monks, these two slander the Tathagata [the Buddha]. Which two? One who explains what was not said or spoken by the Tathagata as said or spoken by the Tathagata. And one who explains what was said or spoken by the Tathagata as not said or spoken by the Tathagata. These are the two who slander the Tathagata.

Strong words!

The Buddha even encouraged us, as part of our practice of the dharma, to identify and reject fake Buddha quotes! In the Maha-Parinibbana Sutta he tells us that when we see something he is reported to have said, our response should be the following:

Without approval or scorn, but carefully studying the sentences word by word, one should trace them in the discourses and verify them by the discipline. If they are neither traceable in the discourses nor verifiable by the discipline, one must conclude thus: “Certainly, this is not the Blessed One’s utterance; this has been misunderstood by that bhikkhu—or by that community, or by those elders, or by that elder.” In that way, bhikkhus, you should reject it.

The Buddha was concerned that his teaching might become diluted over time, and even that fake Buddha quotes would arise. In the Ani Sutta, he predicted that his disciples would end up listening to “the works of poets, elegant in sound, elegant in rhetoric, the work of outsiders, words of disciples” rather than to his own teachings. He compared this process of substitution to a mighty drum becoming mute as it was patched over the years, until its original wooden body had disappeared, leaving only “a conglomeration of pegs.”

This might seem like an exaggerated fear, but what are we to make of it when the majority of quotes on certain Buddhist Facebook pages are fake? Since many of us rely mainly, and sometimes almost entirely, on modern sources for our understanding of the dharma, it’s worth getting familiar with the actual scriptures. Then we can follow the Buddha’s own encouragement to attend to the actual words of the Tathagata—“deep, deep in their meaning, transcendent, connected with emptiness.”

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Can you help us at a critical time?

COVID-19 has brought tremendous suffering, uncertainty, fear, and strain to the world.

Our sincere wish is that these Buddhist teachings, guided practices, and stories can be a balm in these difficult times. Over the past month, over 400,000 readers like you have visited our site, reading almost a million pages and streaming over 120,000 hours of video teachings. We want to provide even more Buddhist wisdom but our resources are strained. Can you help us?

No one is free from the pandemic’s impact, including Lion’s Roar. We rely significantly on advertising and newsstand sales to support our work — both of which have dropped precipitously this year. Can you lend your support to Lion’s Roar at this critical time?

SUPPORT LION’S ROAR

Bodhipaksa

About Bodhipaksa

Bodhipaksa is a Buddhist teacher and writer. He is the founder of Wildmind.org and runs FakeBuddhaQuotes.com. His forthcoming book I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddha! will be published by Parallax Press in the fall of 2018.

Topics: Lion's Roar - Sept '17, Pan-Buddhist, Teachings, Theravada & Insight

Related Posts...

Sculpture of Shakyamuni Buddha sitting and touching the earth.Who Was the Buddha?
by Barbara O'Brien
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddha!
by Bodhipaksa
Buddha eyes.7 Things the Buddha Never Said
by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Welcome to LionsRoar.com

By Lion's Roar Staff

We’re glad to have you here. But first: who are “we”? You may very well know us as the publishers of two Buddhist magazines, the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma. Then again, you may not know us at all. Either way, please allow us to re-introduce ourselves: We’re the Shambhala Sun Foundation. We [...]

  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscriber Services
  • Privacy
  • BUDDHIST DIRECTORY
  • About Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
TEACHINGS
  • Chan & Zen
  • Nichiren
  • Pure Land
  • Shin
  • Theravada & Insight
  • Vajrayana & Tibetan
  • More…
LIFE
  • Death & Dying
  • Difficult Times
  • Everyday Life
  • Food & Eating
  • Love & Relationships
  • Wellness & Psychology
  • More…
EXPLORE BUDDHISM
  • By the Numbers
  • FAQs
  • For Beginners
  • Glossary
  • How to Meditate
  • The Buddha
  • More…
NEWS
  • Breaking News
  • Climate Change
  • Contemporary Art
  • Current Events
  • Politics & Society
  • Teachers & Centers
  • More…

© 2021 Lion's Roar | Email: [email protected] | Tel: 902.422.8404 | Published by Lion's Roar Foundation