The brahman Dona saw the Buddha sitting under a tree and was impressed by his peaceful air of alertness and his good looks. He asked the Buddha: "Are you a god?" "No, brahman, I am not a god." "Then an angel?" "No, indeed, brahman." "A spirit, then?" "No, I am not a spirit." "Then what are you?" "I am awake."

- Anguttara Nikaya

If you seek after truth, you should investigate things in such a way that your consciousness as you investigate is not distracted by what you find, or diffused and scattered; neither is it fixed and set. For the one who is not swayed, there will be a transcending of birth, death, and time. Whether you walk or stand or lie down, Stretch your limbs or draw them in again, Let you do all these things attentively, Above, across, and back again. Whatever your place in the world, Let you be the one who views the movement Of all compounded things with attention.

- Itivuttaka Sutta

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Since your mind is not physical, No one else can destroy it. But because of its attachments to the body, It is harmed by physical suffering.

- Bodhicharyavatara

It is better to spend one day contemplating the birth and death of all things than a hundred years never contemplating beginnings and endings.

- Buddha