sri jana / jane barthelemy fiveseasonsmedicine.com srijana
TRANSCRIPT
“Buddha Speaks” Quotes Introduction
What did the Buddha really say?
Although the Buddha lived two thousand five hundred years ago, his words still touch us deeply
today. What advice does the Master have for the world right now? "Buddha Speaks" is a series of
four products offering timeless teachings for humans on any path. Integrating all religious faiths,
Buddhist lineages, divergent translations, and centuries of interpretations, these words are
authentic, unique, and timely, because they come directly from the Master himself.
My Mission for “Buddha Speaks” is to delve deeply into ancient truths to extract the
inspiration and wisdom we need to transform ourselves in this critical, tumultuous period. The
series is designed to be the essence of wisdom for challenging times.
Three products in the Buddha Speaks Quotes:
Authentic quotes by the Buddha, never published before, all new translations from Pali, Tibetan,
and Chinese texts, carefully adapted into plain English for modern times.
1. "Buddha Speaks Oracle Cards" A set of 54 beautiful cards offering a modern take
on the Buddha’s words to inspire and challenge readers. Attractive illustrations
promote crystal clear understanding of his original meaning.
2. "Buddha Speaks Illustrated Quotes for Children & Adults" A book of 36
illustrated quotes direct from original texts in Pali and Tibetan. It offers a fresh
perspective on the Buddha’s words, and a unique opportunity for children and adults
to have a conversation around everyday thought-provoking questions.
3. "Buddha Speaks Weekly Oracle Planner” is a 52-page journal of inspiring quotes,
one for each week of the year, with colorful images.
How “Buddha Speaks” began.
As an avid collector of Buddhist texts, I've always been curious about this extraordinary man
who changed the world. I visited the Buddha's birthplace in Lumbini, Nepal. I explored the
palace where he was born and sat in the shade of his mother's Bodhi tree. The park was buzzing
with visitors from every country and Buddhist sect of Buddhism, a rainbow of colorful robes and
smiles.
Everybody was speaking English, the unifying world language, and the entire park was filled
with a lovely uplifting quality of refinement and joy. Suddenly I noticed that my aches and pains
were gone, there was no stress in my body, and I was actually completely happy. Not tired or
hungry or having any nagging feeling whatsoever in my mind. What a surprise!
I was amazed at the lavish Lumbini park, with 32 ornate temples, each representing a different
country or Buddhist sect. Billions of dollars have recently been invested there by international
banks, creating a veritable "Disney World" for Buddhists all over the world.
On returning home, the sublime, buoyant energy of Lumbini park stayed with me. I came back
more determined than ever to discover for myself the magic of the Buddha's true words. Reading
the original passages from the Pali Canon, I feel I’m listening to wisdom of a wise and trusted
friend. I am deeply touched, filled with tranquility and hope. I simply fell in love with the root
meaning of each verse. This has grown into a passion to share the Buddha's intention to uplift
people’s lives.
50 years background as a Buddhist
I live in Bhutan, married to a Buddhist Lama. I have been steeped in Buddhist meditation for
nearly 50 years. My multiple language skills offer an ability to express advanced concepts in
simple words.
How I prepare "Buddha Speaks" quotes in meditation
First I assemble the best 15 translations of a passage from Pali, Tibetan or Chinese, with the help
of my husband Lama D. who speaks Tibetan, Hindi, Nepali, and Dzongkha. I meditate on the
Buddha’s intention to find the best way to express his words in English. My new translations are
original, succinct, easy to understand, and contemporary. The quotes are non-religious,
apolitical, compatible to all traditions, representing no ideology.
Authentic sources of Buddhist texts
The Buddha’s exact words are believed to be preserved in the Pali Canon, the Tibetan Kangyur,
and the Chinese Sutra of Forty-two Chapters. The Pali Canon contains over 10,000 passages
codified by the Buddha’s followers shortly after his passing. Vastly larger than the Bible, it was
preserved by Buddhist monks who memorized the Buddha's words and chanted them for
centuries. The Tibetan Kangyur is an important text, believed to be an exhaustive collection of
the Buddha’s words.
Roughly 1,000 years after the Buddha’s passing, the entire canon was written by Sri Lankan
monks onto palm leaves in the Pali language, a relative of Sanskrit. Thanks to centuries of
dedicated monks and highly skilled language scholars in modern times, now for the first time we
are able to go directly to the source texts to understand the Buddha's true intention in plain
English.
I created the “Buddha Speaks” series because I would like readers to always be able to feel that
peaceful sense of total inner well-being that I felt at the birthplace of the Buddha in Lumbini,
Nepal.
How I Select & Translate Quotes from Original Texts
I select relevant, short quotes very carefully. Many of the Buddha’s actual words are
inappropriate for modern audiences. His responses were often long, repetitive, complex, and
difficult to translate. The Buddha gave many long lectures, and very few general rules or
pronouncements of what to do.
The Sources:
My favorite resources for short quotes by the Buddha are found in these texts:
Pali Canon:
1. Dhammapada, 423 Verses in 26 Chapters.
2. Samyutta Nikaya “Connected Discourses” in the Sutta Pitaka
3. Udana, “Inspired Utterances” in the Khuddaka Nikaya
4. Anguttara Nikaya, “Numerical Discourses” In the Sutta Pitaka
5. Majjhima Nikaya, “Collection of Middle-Length Discourses in the Sutta Pitaka
6. Itivuttaka, called "As it was said" in the Khuddaka Nikaya
Tibetan Kangyur
1. Tibetan Degé Kangyur 1, Vinayavastupravrajyavastu
2. Tibetan Kangyur, Toh 95, Lalita¬Vistara
3. Tibetan Kangyur, ༄༅། །ཤེས་ཕྱིན་ཁྱི་པ། , Dasasahasrikaprajñaparamita, The Play in Full
Sutra of Forty-two Chapters, from Chinese: 四十二章經
The Buddha's words parallel those of Jesus Christ
The Buddha lived five hundred years before Christ, yet their messages are similar. Christ said:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Buddha said: "Consider others as
yourself.” The Buddha said: "Give when you are asked” and Christ said: "Give to anyone who
requests it”. Both Christ and Buddha altered the course of humanity in their time.
Buddha did not consider himself a religious figure.
He was never worshipped as a God or the son of God. The Buddha is seen as a highly evolved
man who found the way and showed it to others. The Buddha was born into a royal family and a
culture that already had an established tradition of asceticism, meditation, and chanting. Many
other Buddhas (awakened ones) had come before him. He refined the ancient practices in himself
and infused the tradition with potent clarity that still endures today.
This is a photo of an original manuscript of the Buddha’s words from the Pali Canon written on a
palm leaf about two thousand years ago. Pali was an oral dialect related to Sanskrit, spoken in
some parts of India at the time the Buddha lived. Other texts I use are from Tibetan Kangyur
prayer pages, translated by the team at 84000.co of the Khyentse Foundation.
Imagine the difficulty to decipher and translate these words faithfully after they've disintegrated
for two thousand years! To read the ancient script and reframe the Buddha’s meaning in English
requires an almost incomprehensible level of patience, scholarship and linguistic ability. I read
many translations and infuse them with modern words. I’m grateful to these fine translators.
Buddha Speaks Quotes:
How Are My Buddha Quotes Unique?
I’ve put a fresh, modern twist on the serious scriptures, to make people smile. The Buddha spoke
common-sense clarity that still uplifts millions of lives. Yet his precise meaning can become
twisted or austere in the challenges of translating. I want my quotes to sparkle with his true
intention.
1. My quotes are authentic, not made-up.
Most people are completely unaware that over half of the Buddha quotes we hear are most likely
made-up. Some are partly made-up. There are thousands of phony quotes. If a Buddha quote
doesn’t mention the specific passage number, then it is very likely invented. The overall effect of
spurious quotes is to dilute the purity and precision of the Buddha’s true message. It adds
nonsense to the already burdensome confusion in the common mind.
Examples of made-up Buddha quotes:
“Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.”
Often attributed to Sylvia Boorstein or M. Kathleen Casey. Goodreads attributes it to Haruki
Murakami. A 1976 book “Suffering is Optional” is by Haimowitz. “Misery is optional,” is from
“The Search For Serenity” (1959) by Presnall. Not a Buddha quote.
“You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself.”
This is from “The Voice of the Silence”. This 1889 book by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky contains
fragments from a sacred book found during her studies in Asia, stating: “Thou canst not travel on
the Path before thou hast become that Path itself.” It’s not from the Buddha.
“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the
way, and not starting.”
This quote may have been first printed in the book “Healing of the Planet Earth” by Alan Cohen,
published in 1987, in which it is attributed to the Buddha. Later it appeared in Network World, a
magazine from January 16, 1989. Similar to the Lao Tzu Quote: “The journey of a thousand
miles begins with one step.”
“You only lose what you cling to.”
Some say this quote originated on Twitter. It’s found on countless websites such as James Ure’s
The Buddhist Blog. I find no evidence it is authentic.
Literally thousands of made-up Buddha quotes are in the mainstream. This dilutes the Buddha’s
refined intentions. It clouds our understanding and our ability to connect with a pure source.
2. My quotes are accurate translations of the Buddha’s actual words.
The first Pali translators were from Victorian England, and sexual misunderstandings are
common.
A typical mistranslation is the Pali word Lobha लोभ, which is synonymous to Sanskrit Rāga राग.
Lobha and Rāga refer to a specific Buddhist concept that doesn’t translate directly into English.
It means “a character affliction or poison, any form of selfish greed, sensuality, lust, passion,
excitement, desire or attachment to a sensory object."
Lobha and Raga include but are not limited to sexual lust. Many translators have used the word
"Lust" meaning sexual desire. This is a mistranslation. More accurate word choices are greed,
selfish desire, or sensory attachment.
Example of Mistranslation, Dhammapada # 13:
"Even as rain doth penetrate a house that’s badly thatched, likewise lust doth penetrate
the Bhikkhu's mind uncultivated."
My quote of the same passage uses the words selfish desires:
"Just like rain leaks into a poorly-roofed house, selfish desires seep into a poorly trained
mind."
3. My quotes include females. They are not sexist or male-oriented.
Example: This male-oriented translation excludes females: Dhammapada #2:
"All phenomena are forerun by what we have thought. All that we are is founded on our
thoughts and formed of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought
happiness will pursue him like his own shadow that never leaves him."
My quote of the same passage includes females:
“Everything comes from your thoughts, led and controlled by the mind. Speak or act with a
calm mind, happiness and well-being follow, like an unwavering shadow wherever you go.”
4. My quotes use modern idioms, not ancient metaphors.
Example of confusing translation, Dhammapada #92:
"Arahats do not hoard (anything); when taking food they reflect well over it (i.e., in
accordance with the three parinnas). They have as their object liberation from existence,
that is, Nibbana which is Void and Signless. Their destination, like the course of birds in
the air, cannot be traced."
My quote of the same passage uses a familiar idiom "vanish into thin air" for greater clarity:
“A wise one doesn’t accumulate things, having a higher destination of freedom, taking food
judiciously, traveling a road indiscernible to others, like a bird’s tracks vanish into thin air.”
5. My quotes are easy to understand in modern English.
Example: Too wordy translation of Dhammapada #19:
“Though he say much that’s proper, yet the man is wanton if his actions ill accord. Like a
foolhardy cowherd counting kine of other men”
My quote of the same passage uses modern expressions that are easy to understand:
"Say good words, but don’t act them out, you’ll never get the benefits, like claiming someone
else’s work as your own."
6. My quotes are neutral, not condescending or judgmental
Example: Condescending translation of Dhammapada #141:
"Not naked wont, not matted hair, not dirt, not fasting, not the bare ground as a bed, not
dusty smear, nor squatting on the calves can cleanse the ignorant mortal, victim to
selfishness and doubt."
My quote of the same passage is not judgmental:
“Going nude with dreadlocks, fasting, sleeping on bare ground, smearing your face with
mud, and twisting the body like a pretzel can never purify you, if you haven’t faced your
own fears.”
7. My translation work screen
I work with the best English translations from Pali, a few from Tibetan and Chinese. I adapt
them by comparing the best 15 or so translations of the original text. Existing translations are
often literal, academic words with vastly different meanings among themselves. Thus they’re
hard to understand.
When I juxtapose the translations side-by-side on my computer screen, it is possible to integrate
a new and unique translation that’s more true to the Buddha’s original meaning. I meditate and
ask to receive direction that is faithful to his original intention and easy for readers to understand.
My translations from Pali and Chinese texts are unique. They can be copyrighted without legally
infringing on other works. Tibetan translations are by the Khyentse Foundation at 84000.co,
Translating the Words of the Buddha. I’d like to give them full credit for all Tibetan
translations.
Computer Work Screen
See above how I prepare translations. This is a screenshot of my translation screen for the
Buddha quote from Dhammapada #33. I meditate on the Buddha’s true intention. Then I
integrate meanings from the various translations. Observe that my translation in the red box is
unique from all others.
8. Sample translations from Pali
When translating, I meditate to try to render the Buddha’s precise idea in simple modern English.
By comparing several literal translations, I attempt to create something that is unique, relevant to
our times, and 100% faithful to the Buddha’s intention. Below are three sample verses. Three
widely divergent translations are on the left side. My simple English adaptation is on the right.
Target Market: Buddha Speaks Quotes
(Children’s Book, Oracle Cards, Weekly Planner)
Our primary market is to people of all ages interested in Spiritual Awakening, Mindfulness,
Mindfulness Children, and Inspirational Oracle Cards. Spiritually oriented parents and
grandparents are a top market, along with English-speaking Buddhists in the US and world-wide.
Millennials and young people of all ages are a top market for Oracle Cards and Weekly Planner.
Google Search Trends show a stable and rapidly growing USA market for the following topics.
Log into Google and see this link: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?
Target Market: Buddha Speaks Quotes, cont.
1. Nearly 5 million English-speaking Buddhists in the world are the top target audience for
Buddha quotes cards and books. They are primarily located in these countries:
2. Millions of English-speaking non-Buddhists interested in spiritual awakening are a top
audience. English is the default language of the world. These quotes are apolitical, non-
denominational, compatible to all traditions, representing no ideology.
3. A target market is to the 600 million Buddhists in the world, representing 8% of the total
world population. (However, many are non-English speakers, and many are poor.)
Marketing the Buddha Speaks Quotes
I plan to market these products to attendees and followers of our Mindfulness Buddhism retreats
and tours in Bhutan and Bali with my husband, Lama Dungtsho. We will feature the products on
our websites, blogs and Facebook groups. We will offer them to our web subscribers, and to
tourists with our travel company, White Tiger Tours. We will promote the products as a book
tour together with my husband's Buddhism lectures, to create an international network of
followers through links:
1. I will teach workshops with these books and do channelings for Retreats.
2. I will publish articles and market the Buddha products online:
YouTube Channel: Sri Jana
www.FiveSeasonsMedicine.com
www.BuddhaSpeaks.com – coming soon
www.WhiteTigerBhutan.com
www.PowerDharma.com
3. I will post articles and campaigns on our Facebook Pages and Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/whitetigerbhutan/
https://www.facebook.com/fiveseasonsmedicine/
https://www.facebook.com/srijana1080
https://www.facebook.com/lamadpowerdharma/
4. I will publish articles and buy ad space in top Buddhist and Spiritual magazines.
• Tricycle Magazine | The Buddhist Review,
• Lion's Roar Magazine
• Buddha Weekly Online Magazine
• Buddhism Now Magazine
• Mountain Record Magazine
• Yoga Journal
• Elephant Journal
• Ascent Magazine
• LA Yoga
• Clarity Magazine
• Integral Yoga Magazine
5. I will offer these products to international and travel book distributors, including
• WHSmith International Stores
• Chung Hwa Book Stores
• Hudson Booksellers
• Anderson News
• Greenleaf Book Group
• Parivatti Books
6. I will contact, visit personally, and offer the books to top Buddhist tourist destinations:
• Lumbini, Nepal, birthplace of the Buddha, with almost 1 million visitors per year.
The Chinese government recently invested $3 billion through the APECF in
conjunction with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
to attract tourists to Lumbini. It's becoming an Asian "Disney World" for Buddhists.
• Gal Vihara, Sri Lanka, Famous Buddhist Temple and UNESCO World Heritage
Site, with over 2 million visitors per year.
• Wat Pho, Thailand's largest temple with 3.6 million visitors per year.
• Angkor Wat, Cambodia the world’s largest religious structure, with over 1 million
visitors per year.
• Bodh Gaya, Bihar, Site of the Buddha’s enlightenment in Northeastern, India, with 4
million visitors per year including 2.5 million that come from foreign countries.