Whatever you find hardest to do, do with all your heart.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Inner peace is the key: if you have inner peace, the external problems do not affect your deep sense of peace and tranquility.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, ‘Oh yes—I already have everything that I really need.’
—The 14th Dalai Lama
If a person’s basic state of mind is serene and calm, then it is possible for this inner peace to overwhelm a painful physical experience. On the other hand, if someone is suffering from depression, anxiety, or any form of emotional distress, then even if he or she happens to be enjoying physical comforts, he will not really be able to experience the happiness that these could bring.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Meditation
When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Learning
The question is not to know the meaning of life, but what meaning I can give to my life.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
In the Buddha’s life story we see the three stages of practice: Morality comes first, then concentrated meditation, and then wisdom. And we see that the path takes time.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Meditation
World economies are always so tenuous and we are subject to so many losses in life, but a compassionate attitude is something we can always carry with us.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Compassion
The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual’s own reason and critical analysis.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Authority
The more we take the welfare of others to heart and work for their benefit, the more benefit we derive for ourselves. This is a fact that we can see.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Helpfulness
Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend – or a meaningful day.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: New, Friends and Friendship, Attitude, Buddhism, Appreciation, Friend
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Buddhism, Love
If people are suffering, then they must look within themselves … Happiness is not something ready-made (Buddha) can give you. It comes from your own actions.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Happiness, Confidence, Self-reliance
If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Faith, Religion
The purpose of our lives is to be happy.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Happiness
We begin from the recognition that all beings cherish happiness and do not want suffering. It then becomes both morally wrong and pragmatically unwise to pursue only one’s own happiness oblivious to the feelings and aspirations of all others who surround us as members of the same human family. The wiser course is to think of others when pursuing our own happiness.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Purpose, Happiness
If one’s life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity is extremely important for happiness. Having few desires, feeling satisfied with what you have, is very vital: satisfaction with just enough food, clothing, and shelter to protect yourself from the elements. And finally, there is an intense delight in abandoning faulty states of mind and in cultivating helpful ones in meditation.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Meditation
Reason well from the beginning and then there will never be any need to look back with confusion and doubt.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Responsibility
Discrimination against persons of different races, against women, and against weaker sections of society may be traditional in some regions, but if they are inconsistent with universally recognized human rights, these forms of behavior should change. The universal principle of the equality of all human beings must take precedence.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
I have observed that religious practice is not a precondition either of ethical conduct or of happiness itself. I have also suggested that, whether a person practices religion or not, the spiritual qualities of love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, humility and so on are indispensable
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Compassion
Be a good human being, a warm-hearted affectionate person. That is my fundamental belief. Having a sense of caring, a feeling of compassion will bring happiness of peace of mind to oneself and automatically create a positive atmosphere.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Happiness, Mind, Peace, Kindness, Affection, Love
My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Religion, Kindness
Today’s world requires us to accept the oneness of humanity. In the past, isolated communities could afford to think of one another as fundamentally separate. Some could even exist in total isolation. But nowadays, whatever happens in one region eventually affects many other areas. Within the context of our inter-dependence, self-interest clearly lies in considering the interest of others.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Now, there are many, many people in the world, but relatively few with whom we interact, and even fewer who cause us problems. So, when you come across such a chance for practicing patience and tolerance, you should treat it with gratitude. It is rare. Just as having unexpectedly found a treasure in your own house, you should be happy and grateful to your enemy for providing that precious opportunity.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Ignorance
In the practice of tolerance, one’s enemy is the best teacher.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Teaching, Tolerance, Teachers
Another kind of love and compassion is not based on something appearing beautiful or nice, but based on the fact that the other person, just like oneself, wants happiness and does not want suffering and indeed has every right to be happy and to overcome suffering. On such a basis, we feel a sense of responsibility, a sense of closeness toward that being. That is true compassion. This is because the compassion is based on reason, not just on emotional feeling. As a consequence, it does not matter what the other’s attitude is, whether negative, or positive. What matters is that it is a human being, a sentient being that has the experience of pain and pleasure. There is no reason not to feel compassion so long as it is a sentient being.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Love
The moment you think only of yourself, the focus of your whole reality narrows, and because of this narrow focus, uncomfortable things can appear huge and bring you fear and discomfort and a sense of feeling overwhelmed by misery. The moment you think of others with a sense of caring, however, your view widens. Within that wider perspective, your own problems appear to be of little significance, and this makes a big difference.
—The 14th Dalai Lama
Topics: Selfishness
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- Lama Thubten Yeshe Tibetan Buddhist Teacher
- Pema Chodron American Buddhist Nun
- D. T. Suzuki Japanese Buddhist Philosopher
- Alan Watts British-American Philosopher
- Robert Thurman American Buddhist Scholar
- Pope John Paul II Polish Catholic Religious Leader
- Nagarjuna Indian Buddhist Philosopher
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