Damien Keown Quotes

#1. Individuals create themselves through their moral choices. By freely and repeatedly choosing certain sorts of things, an individual shapes their character, and through their character their future.

Damien Keown

#2. history has no overall direction or purpose

Damien Keown

#3. Teachings not validated by personal experience are of little value.

Damien Keown

#4. all living creatures are entitled to respect in their own right, not simply because of the utility they may possess for other humans.

Damien Keown

#5. Zen has a pronounced iconoclastic tendency, and regards the study of texts, doctrines, and dogmas as a potential hindrance to spiritual awakening, relying instead on humour, spontaneity, unconventionality, poetry, and other forms of artistic expression to communicate the idea of enlightenment

Damien Keown

#6. Decay is inherent in all things.

Damien Keown

#7. Is it necessary to believe in the existence of the six realms and the heavens and hells to be a Buddhist? Not necessarily. It is possible to interpret these as, perhaps, referring to other dimensions of existence, parallel universes, or simply states of mind.

Damien Keown