Action

Shakyamuni Buddha said,

There is no path to walk on, there is walking being done, but there is no traveler. There are deeds being done, but there is no doer.


Everyone is restlessly busy, having nothing upon which to rely. Whether moral or corrupt, of high or low rank, rich or poor, noble or base, all are preoccupied with their own work. They entertain venomous thoughts, creating a widespread and dismal atmosphere of malevolence. Subversive activities are planned, contrary to the universal law and the wishes of the people.


Half of life is taken up with sleep. Ten years are spent in childhood. Twenty years lost in old age. Out of the remaining twenty years, sorrow, complaining, pain, and agitation eliminate much time, and hundreds of physical illnesses destroy much more.


That deed is not well done that one regrets when it is done.


Not in the heavens above, nor in the farest reaches of the sea, nor by transporting yourself to the remotest valleys of the mountains, will you be able to hide from the consequences of your own evil actions. Likewise, certain are the blessings growing out of your good actions.


If anything is to be done, let a man do it, let him attack it vigorously!


Carpenters bend wood; fletchers bend arrows; wise men fashion themselves.

 

- end of quotes from Shakyamuni Buddha. -


One becomes good by good action and bad by bad action.

The Upanishads


We have to do what we know.

His Holiness the sixteenth Karmapa of Tibet


What we call "Self" is simply this changing process. In this process, every volitional action is a seed, and the kind of seed it is depends on the quality of mind associated with that volition. These actions bring results in the same way that seeds bear fruit. There is no static "someone", no self, behind these changing events to whom it is all happening. The Buddha described what we are as "actions wihout an actor, doings without doer." So we can understand the unfolding of our lives as being a lawful, nonpersonal process of change, process of constant becoming.

Joseph Goldstein, Buddhist teacher


The world is imprisoned by its own activity.

Hindu saying


Time never waits but keeps flowing. Not only does time flow unhindered, but correspondingly our lives too keep moving onward all the time.
If something goes wrong, we cannot turn back time and try again. In that sense, there is no genuine second chance.

His Holiness the fourteenth Dalai Lama


Before embarking an important undertakings, sit quietly, calm your senses and thoughts, and meditate deeply. You will then be guided by the great creative power of Spirit.

Paramahansa Yogananda


The breeze of grace is always blowing on you. You have to open the sails and your boat will move forward.

Ramakrishna


People who spit into the wind are defying the workings of cause and effect.

Shantidasa


By choosing we learn to be responsible. By paying the price of our choices we learn to make better choices

Marasha Sinetar


There is no one good or bad, only your actions have an effect that is equal and opposite. You cannot get away from Newton's third law. (The law of action and reaction)

Yogi Bhajan


There is no place in the universe, no mountain, no sky, no heaven where one does not undergo the consequences of actions performed by oneself.

Yoga Vasistha


There is nothing to do. Just be. Do nothing. Be. No climing mountains and sitting in caves. I do no even say "be yourself" since you do not know yourself. Just be.

Nisargadatta


The Master gives himself up to whatever the moment brings.

Lao-tzu


Activity simply for the sake of activity doesn't provide the satisfaction is promises.

Shantidasa


Done is what had to be done.

Common phrase in Buddhist texts


When one does nothing, nothing is left undone.

Hindu saying


Your thoughts should agree with your words, and the words should agree with your actions. In this world people think one thing, and do something else. This is horrible. This is crookedness.

Sivananda


The wise man never imitates any action.

Bhagavad-Gita


Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free: stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.

Chuang Tse


There is no power greater than right action in the present moment.

Yoga Vasistha