"We struggle here and there in our life with the same unconscious patterns of aggression, desire, jealousy or denial, until we're caught in a web of our own making. These are precisely the things from which we work to free ourselves on the buddhist path: the habitual patterns that dominate our life and make it hard to see the awakened state of mind.
Buddhism is primarily a study of mind and a system for training the mind. It is spiritual in nature, not religious. Its goal is self-knowledge, not salvation; freedom, not heaven. It relies on reason and analysis, contemplation and meditation, to transform knowledge about something into knowledge that surpasses understanding.
Although Buddhism can be practiced religiously, in many respects, it isn't really a religion. Because of its emphasis on questioning and working with the mind, it is spiritual in nature. But because it relies on logical analysis and reasoning, as well as on meditation, many buddhist teachers regard Buddhism as a science of mind rather than a religion.
Our confusion is created by our own mind, and it can only be transformed by our mind. So the most powefull entity in the buddhist path is the mind."
Although Buddhism can be practiced religiously, in many respects, it isn't really a religion. Because of its emphasis on questioning and working with the mind, it is spiritual in nature. But because it relies on logical analysis and reasoning, as well as on meditation, many buddhist teachers regard Buddhism as a science of mind rather than a religion.
Our confusion is created by our own mind, and it can only be transformed by our mind. So the most powefull entity in the buddhist path is the mind."
Rebel Buddha - p. 20, 24
