--- title: "7 Absolutes Quotes By Robert Thurman" description: "7 Absolutes quotes by Robert Thurman. Plus more from Robert Thurman and more Absolutes sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_however-because-of-your-interconnectedne_261702.jpg" --- > [However, because of your interconnectedness with all things, other beings still have a problem, and when you realize that you have no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/however-because-of-your-interconnectedness-with-all-things-other/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_however-because-of-your-interconnectedne_261702.jpg) > [In Buddhist ideology, the conventional self is that which is constructed in a way by the use of the pronoun, and when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/in-buddhist-ideology-the-conventional-self-is-that-which-is/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/878/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_in-buddhist-ideology-the-conventional-se_318552.jpg) > [ The understanding of it \[absolute\] is very important as a beginning point. Then you can use meditation, further reasoning, long-term familiarity etc.,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/the-understanding-of-it-absolute-is-very-important-as-a-beginning/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5be/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_the-understanding-of-it-absolute-is-very_855777.jpg) > [So that's the process of understanding, and through that process, if you have a deep realization of the selflessness in regard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/so-that-s-the-process-of-understanding-and-through-that-process-if/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_so-that-s-the-process-of-understanding-a_1709653.jpg) > [You can't relate to an absolute or it wouldn't be absolute, it would be relative. On an intellectual level, that's easy. However,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/you-can-t-relate-to-an-absolute-or-it-wouldn-t-be-absolute-it-would/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fb/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_you-can-t-relate-to-an-absolute-or-it-wo_2051188.jpg) > [An absolute being would be irrelevant to the world, as it couldn't create it. Any action, or causal process that would involve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/an-absolute-being-would-be-irrelevant-to-the-world-as-it-couldn-t/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/robert-thurman-9409_absolute_an-absolute-being-would-be-irrelevant-to_2739669.jpg) > [The idea that somehow "no self, no problem"- I don't exist because I don't have a self- would be a mistaken understanding.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/the-idea-that-somehow-no-self-no-problem-i-don-t-exist-because-i-don/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d8/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_the-idea-that-somehow-no-self-no-problem_2741638.jpg) ## Other authors on Absolutes - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-swami-vivekananda-88348.jpg) Swami Vivekananda 31 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/swami-vivekananda/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-rajneesh-77002.jpg) Rajneesh 15 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/rajneesh/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b010/author-frederick-lenz-36205.jpg) Frederick Lenz 15 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/frederick-lenz/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-mahatma-gandhi-62675.jpg) Mahatma Gandhi 13 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/mahatma-gandhi/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b009/author-eric-hoffer-33497.jpg) Eric Hoffer 13 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/eric-hoffer/) - [Ralph Waldo Emerson 11 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/ralph-waldo-emerson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b008/author-donald-trump-30060.jpg) Donald Trump 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/donald-trump/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-ayn-rand-15943.jpg) Ayn Rand 11 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/ayn-rand/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-lord-acton-61079.jpg) Lord Acton 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/lord-acton/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-adyashanti-9662.jpg) Adyashanti 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/adyashanti/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b019/author-pope-francis-75890.jpg) Pope Francis 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/pope-francis/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b018/author-nirmala-srivastava-71652.jpg) Nirmala Srivastava 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/nirmala-srivastava/) ## More by Robert Thurman > [Whether or not enlightenment is a plausible goal for us is a vital question for our lives. If it is possible for us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/whether-or-not-enlightenment-is-a-plausible-goal-for-us-is-a-vital/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [You're more responsible ethically for being there with your interconnection to the world, but the you now is an always changing one, and you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/you-re-more-responsible-ethically-for-being-there-with-your/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [However, because of your interconnectedness with all things, other beings still have a problem, and when you realize that you have no absolute self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/however-because-of-your-interconnectedness-with-all-things-other/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [If you love your enemy, that means you want your enemy to be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/if-you-love-your-enemy-that-means-you-want-your-enemy-to-be-happy/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [In Buddhist ideology, the conventional self is that which is constructed in a way by the use of the pronoun, and when you realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/in-buddhist-ideology-the-conventional-self-is-that-which-is/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [To become enlightened is not just to slip into some disconnected euphoria, an oceanic feeling of mystic oneness apart from ordinary reality. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/to-become-enlightened-is-not-just-to-slip-into-some-disconnected/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [I think about the trends at the moment in the planet and how it looks for my grandchildren. I don't panic over it, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/i-think-about-the-trends-at-the-moment-in-the-planet-and-how-it-looks/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [To finish building the free society dreamed of by Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson, we must draw upon the resources of the enlightened imagination, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/to-finish-building-the-free-society-dreamed-of-by-washington-franklin/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [Hate poisons your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/hate-poisons-your-life/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [A possession can't make you happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/a-possession-can-t-make-you-happy/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [People in Tibet have an expression. When you reach a certain degree of venerableness and age, and people ask, "How are you?," there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/people-in-tibet-have-an-expression-when-you-reach-a-certain-degree-of/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [“Anger spoils relationships where there should be great reciprocity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/anger-spoils-relationships-where-there-should-be-great-reciprocity/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [It isn't the meaning of love where you somehow desire that one or you want them or want them to love you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/it-isn-t-the-meaning-of-love-where-you-somehow-desire-that-one-or-you/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the greatest teachers of our time. He reaches from the heights of insight down to the deepest places…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/thich-nhat-hanh-is-one-of-the-greatest-teachers-of-our-time-he/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) > [I'd like to say is that we shouldn't have an idea that the goal of spiritual practice is to annihilate ones ego, that would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/i-d-like-to-say-is-that-we-shouldn-t-have-an-idea-that-the-goal-of/) [Robert Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-thurman/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutes/robert-thurman/#itemlist", "name": "7 Absolutes Quotes By Robert Thurman", "numberOfItems": 7, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "However, because of your interconnectedness with all things, other beings still have a problem, and when you realize that you have no absolute self apart from things, you realize that essentially, you are all the other beings.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Thurman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/however-because-of-your-interconnectedness-with-all-things-other/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_however-because-of-your-interconnectedne_261702.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_however-because-of-your-interconnectedne_261702.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/301/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_however-because-of-your-interconnectedne_261702.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“However, because of your interconnectedness with all things, other beings still have a problem, and when you…” — Robert Thurman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In Buddhist ideology, the conventional self is that which is constructed in a way by the use of the pronoun, and when you realize there is no absolute ego there, no disconnected one, self, or ego, then that actually strengthens your conventional ego. It does so in the sense that then you realize it's a construction, and you can strengthen it in order to help others, or do whatever you're trying to do, it's not like you no longer know who you are. 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Then you can use meditation, further reasoning, long-term familiarity etc., you can use all kinds of methods to deepen this understanding and to have it counter the instinctual sense of being an absolute you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Thurman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/the-understanding-of-it-absolute-is-very-important-as-a-beginning/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5be/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_the-understanding-of-it-absolute-is-very_855777.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5be/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_the-understanding-of-it-absolute-is-very_855777.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5be/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_the-understanding-of-it-absolute-is-very_855777.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The understanding of it [absolute] is very important as a beginning point. 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You reach Nirvana.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Thurman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/so-that-s-the-process-of-understanding-and-through-that-process-if/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_so-that-s-the-process-of-understanding-a_1709653.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_so-that-s-the-process-of-understanding-a_1709653.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_so-that-s-the-process-of-understanding-a_1709653.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So that's the process of understanding, and through that process, if you have a deep realization of the…” — Robert Thurman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You can't relate to an absolute or it wouldn't be absolute, it would be relative. On an intellectual level, that's easy. However, you hear theologians in the theistic traditions talk about absolute God, and I saw God, or God spoke; speaking, being seen, these are all relational things. So what is absolute about such a being, wouldn't actually be absolute.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Thurman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/you-can-t-relate-to-an-absolute-or-it-wouldn-t-be-absolute-it-would/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fb/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_you-can-t-relate-to-an-absolute-or-it-wo_2051188.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fb/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_you-can-t-relate-to-an-absolute-or-it-wo_2051188.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fb/robert-thurman-9409_absolutes_you-can-t-relate-to-an-absolute-or-it-wo_2051188.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You can't relate to an absolute or it wouldn't be absolute, it would be relative. On an intellectual level…” — Robert Thurman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An absolute being would be irrelevant to the world, as it couldn't create it. Any action, or causal process that would involve them, would make them relational. An absolute is the opposite of relative. So that's easy to understand, however, even though we understand that intellectually, which is very important to do, you don't transform yourself completely, yet.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Thurman" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-thurman/an-absolute-being-would-be-irrelevant-to-the-world-as-it-couldn-t/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/robert-thurman-9409_absolute_an-absolute-being-would-be-irrelevant-to_2739669.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/robert-thurman-9409_absolute_an-absolute-being-would-be-irrelevant-to_2739669.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35f/robert-thurman-9409_absolute_an-absolute-being-would-be-irrelevant-to_2739669.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An absolute being would be irrelevant to the world, as it couldn't create it. Any action, or causal process…” — Robert Thurman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The idea that somehow \"no self, no problem\"- I don't exist because I don't have a self- would be a mistaken understanding. However, the selflessness teaching is not that hard to understand. What it means is a type of self that people feel they have, like a fixed, unchanging identity. Either they know they have it, or for some, they feel they need to seek it, and possibly have an experience where they feel like they found something. That type of fixed, unchanging, essential self, or absolute self doesn't exist. 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