Sutta memes as images

sujato · August 22, 2016, 2:45am

I was thinking some time ago about different ways to spread the suttas. It seems to me that the most striking thing in the suttas is the images. The similes and figures of speech have become such an ingrained part of Buddhist, and in some cases, global usage, that I think most people don’t know where they come from. And meanwhile, the suttas are seen as dry and uninteresting.

So, I thought I’d combine sutta quotes with relevant images in some fun ways. My graphics design skills are extremely primitive! I did these a while ago, and just came across them, so I thought, why not share them and see if anyone likes the idea?

Gabriel_L · August 22, 2016, 2:53am

seniya · August 22, 2016, 3:21am

Nice idea, bhante, we also have this sutta quote memes in Indonesian too long time ago: https://dhammacitta.org/forum/index.php?topic=22077.0

sujato · August 22, 2016, 3:50am

Hah! Too much to think I’d have an original idea, then.

These are nice, but there’s a lot of words! A good meme you can take in at a glance.

seniya · August 22, 2016, 4:07am

Yes, Bhante, English memes are better because Indonesian words are longer than English words

SarathW1 · August 22, 2016, 5:27am

Well her is a master of images.

Bikkhu Samahita.

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=110

LXNDR · August 22, 2016, 8:11am

well, i think that’s brilliant

what’s more the quotes don’t reveal much, they don’t express a complete idea and so entice the audience to read the text they’re lifted from in full to find out what they mean or what the context which makes them meaningful is

peace · August 22, 2016, 9:30pm

Completely agree. Almost a bit clickbaity but for suttas, I love it!!! I would love to see a facebook page set up for buddhist sutta memes with one of these posted a day with a link to the sutta.

SarathW1 · August 23, 2016, 1:35am

Fantastic images Bhante!
In regard to holding the bird.
My advise is "If you held tightly, it will die"
Did Buddha say some thing similar?

LXNDR · August 23, 2016, 7:06am

it’s the second part of the simile

Suppose a man were to grip a quail tightly with both hands; it would die then and there

daverupa · August 23, 2016, 7:25am

sujato · August 23, 2016, 8:18am

Also an authentic quote (more or less!) Being misquoted really annoyed the Buddha.

Bhikkhu_Jayasara · August 26, 2016, 9:24am

I’ve been collecting these types of memes for years into a public facebook album. I don’t think there are many on the net I haven’t found yet, although not every single image in this is a direct sutta quote, many are - https://www.facebook.com/jayanthasotp/media_set?set=a.10202377941590401.1073741831.1248631145&type=3

I also enjoy funny buddhist memes-
https://www.facebook.com/jayanthasotp/media_set?set=a.10204183662132286.1073741835.1248631145&type=3

Buddhist memes have been around for years, accurate sutta memes, not so much, which is why fakebuddhaquotes.com is so glorious

Pasanna · August 27, 2016, 4:55am

This is something I’ve been meaning to work on for the Buddhist Society of SA. My training is in graphic design, I just need to sift through and find the right quotes.
I’d be happy to team up on this as a project for SC.
Metta
Michelle

sujato · August 27, 2016, 10:21pm

Cool. Would you like to have a chat about it?

Vimala · August 27, 2016, 11:50pm