Background Image

...

There Is A Common Perception That Compassion Is, If Not Actually An Impediment, At Least Irrelevant To Professional Life. Personally, I Would Argue That Not Only Is It Relevant, But That When Compassion Is Lacking, Our Activities Are In Danger Of Becoming Destructive. This Is Because When We Ignore The Question Of The Impact Our Actions Have On Others' Well-being, Inevitably We End Up Hurting Them.

-Dalai Lama

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

There Is A Common

Dalai Lama

...

There Is A Common Perception That Compassion Is, If Not Actually An Impediment, At Least Irrelevant To Professional Life. Personally, I Would Argue That Not Only Is It Relevant, But That When Compassion Is Lacking, Our Activities Are In Danger Of Becoming Destructive. This Is Because When We Ignore The Question Of The Impact Our Actions Have On Others' Well-being, Inevitably We End Up Hurting Them.

Views: 8

Topic

More From Dalai Lama

I Do Not Judge The Universe.

To Me There Is No Difference Whether President, Beggar, Or King.

You Can Develop The Right Attitude Toward Others If You Have Kindness, Love And Respect For Them, And A Clear Realization Of The Oneness Of All Human Beings.

Time Passes Unhindered. When We Make Mistakes, We Cannot Turn The Clock Back And Try Again. All We Can Do Is Use The Present Well.

I Have Three Commitments. Number One Commitment Is Promotion Of Human Value. Number Two Commitment Is Promotion Of Race Harmony. Number Three Commitment Is About Tibet. My Retirement Is The Third Commitment. The Previous Two Commitments, To My Death, I Have Committed.

There Is Only One Important Point You Must Keep In Your Mind And Let It Be Your Guide. No Matter What People Call You, You Are Just Who You Are. Keep To This Truth. You Must Ask Yourself How Is It You Want To Live Your Life. We Live And We Die, This Is The Truth That We Can Only Face Alone. No One Can Help Us, Not Even The Buddha. So Consider Carefully, What Prevents You From Living The Way You Want To Live Your Life?

Compassion Automatically Brings Happiness And Calmness. Then, Even If You Receive Disturbing News, It Will Be Easier To Take, As Your Mind Is Still.

Destructive Thoughts And Emotions Undermine The Very Causes Of Peace And Happiness. If You Think Clearly About It, It Makes No Sense To Think You’re Seeking Happiness, If You Do Nothing To Restrain Angry, Spiteful, And Malicious Thoughts And Emotions.

When A Person Is In A Miserable Situation, Then, Yes, It Is Difficult To Develop Genuine Compassion Toward Others. That's Why I Find It Difficult To Say To Poor People, "please Have Compassion Toward Millionaires." That's Not Easy.

Many Of The Earth's Habitats, Animals, Plants, Insects And Even Micro-organisms That We Know To Be Rare May Not Be Known At All By Future Generations. We Have The Capability And The Responsibility To Act; We Must Do So Before It Is Too Late.

All Major Religious Traditions Carry Basically The Same Message, That Is Love, Compassion And Forgiveness The Important Thing Is They Should Be Part Of Our Daily Lives.

Buddha Urged People To Investigate Things - He Didn't Just Command Them To Believe.

To Conquer Oneself Is A Greater Victory Than To Conquer Thousands In A Battle.

From A Certain Point Of View Our Real Enemy, The True Troublemaker, Is Inside.

All Human Beings Have An Innate Desire To Overcome Suffering, To Find Happiness. Training The Mind To Think Differently, Through Meditation, Is One Important Way To Avoid Suffering And Be Happy.

The Various Features And Aspects Of Human Life, Such As Longevity, Good Health, Success, Happiness, And So Forth, Which We Consider Desirable, Are All Dependent On Kindness And A Good Heart.

We Can Live Without Religion And Meditation, But We Cannot Survive Without Human Affection.

Our State Of Mind Plays A Major Role In Our Day-to-day Experiences As Well As Our Physical And Mental Well-being. If A Person Has A Calm And Stable Mind, This Influences His Or Her Attitude And Behavior In Relation To Others. In Other Words, If Someone Remains In A Peaceful And Tranquil State Of Mind, External Surroundings Can Cause Them Only A Limited Disturbance.

Whether We Are Rich Or Poor, Educated Or Uneducated, Whatever Our Nationality, Colour, Social Status Or Ideology May Be, The Purpose Of Our Lives Is To Be Happy

We Have To Adopt A Wider Perspective, And Always Find Common Things Between The People Of North, East, South, And West. Conflict Comes From The Basis Of Differencs.

Genuine Happiness Consists In Those Spiritual Qualities Of Love, Compassion, Patience, Tolerance And Forgiveness And So On. For It Is These Which Provide Both For Our Happiness And Others Happiness.

For A Better, Happier, More Stable And Civilized Future, Each Of Us Must Develop A Sincere, Warm-hearted Feeling Of Brotherhood And Sisterhood.

We Can Never Obtain Peace In The Outer World Until We Make Peace With Ourselves.

It Is Very Important To Generate A Good Attitude, A Good Heart, As Much As Possible. From This, Happiness In Both The Short Term And The Long Term For Both Yourself And Others Will Come.

To A Large Extent, Whether You Suffer Depends On How You Respond To A Given Situation.

The Meaning Of Life Is Happiness.

Meaning Of Life

In Order To Satisfy One Human Stomach, So Many Lives Are Taken Away. We Must Promote Vegetarianism. It Is Extremely Important.

I Feel Like My Life Is Something Purposeful. Many People Have Told Me That After They Listen To My Talk, Some Point Which I Made, They Got Certain Ideas And Their Whole Life Is Changed. They Are Happier.

Rulers Come And Go. It's The People Who Are The Real Rulers Of The Country.

His Holiness Pope John Paul Ii Was A Determined And Deeply Spiritual Minded Person For Whom I Had Great Respect And Admiration. His Experience In Poland, Then A Communist Country, And My Own Difficulties With Communists, Gave Us An Immediate Common Ground

Never Give Up. No Matter What Is Happening, No Matter What Is Going On Around You, Never Give Up.

Basically, The Buddhist Attitude Is That You Should Not Accept Certain Things Through Sheer Faith. And For That You Need A Skeptical Attitude. Buddha Himself Made This Clear To His Followers. He Said You Should Not Accept Those Things I Taught Out Of Respect For Me, But Rather Through Investigation By Yourself.

In Most Cases, My Visits To The West Are For Promotion Of Human Values And Religious Harmony.

Death And Dying Provide A Meeting-point Between The Tibetan Buddhist And Modern Scientific Traditions. I Believe Both Have A Great Deal To Contribute To Each Other On The Level Of Understanding And Of Practical Benefit.

I Met An American Lady Many Years Ago, Much Distant. Then I Told Her About My Own Difficult Experiences And I Showed Some Genuine Concern. She Responded, "why Are You So Concerned About Me?" We Need More Patience. At A Fundamental Level, We Are The Same Human Brothers And Sisters. Then Forget It. The Human Mind Is Very Strange. Like That.

Genuine Concern

Different Religions Meet The Needs Of Different People

Once A Positive Goal Is Chosen, You Should Decide To Pursue It All The Way To The End. Even If It Is Not Realized, At Least There Will Be No Regret.

Unlike Physical Progress, Which Is Subject To Natural Restrictions, The Qualities Of The Mind Can Be Developed Limitlessly.

If You Contribute To Other Peoples Happiness, You Will Find The True Meaning Of Life. The Key Point Is To Have A Genuine Sense Of Universal Responsibility

Meaning Of Life

Our World Is Increasingly Interdependent, But I Wonder If We Truly Understand That Our Interdependent Human Community Has To Be Compassionate; Compassionate In Our Choice Of Goals, Compassionate In Our Means Of Cooperation And Our Pursuit Of These Goals.

Blessings Don’t Come From Outside, But From Within. Whatever Blessings We Receive Are The Result Of Our Own Efforts And Positive Actions.

Those Who Suffer From An Exaggerated Sense Of Their Own Ability And Accomplishment Are Continually Subject To Frustration, Disappointment, And Rage When Reality Intrudes And The World Doesn't Validate Their Idealized View Of Themselves.

Basically, Therefore, We Should Approach Others Openly, Recognizing Each Person As Another Human Being Just Like Ourselves. There Is Not Much Difference Between Us All.

Medical Science Begin To Notice For Good Health, Peace Of Mind, Self-confidence, Optimism Is Something Very Important. And Also Preventive Measure.

Self Confidence

World Peace Begins With Inner Peace.

I Am Increasingly Convinced That The Time Has Come To Find A Way Of Thinking About Spirituality And Ethics Beyond Religion Altogether.

If The Situation Was Such That There Was Only One Learned Lama Or Genuine Practitioner Alive, A Person Whose Death Would Cause The Whole Of Tibet To Lose All Hope Of Keeping Its Buddhist Way Of Life, Then It Is Conceivable That In Order To Protect That One Person It Might Be Justified For One Or 10 Enemies To Be Eliminated If There Was No Other Way.

I Believe That The Very Purpose Of Our Life Is To Seek Happiness. That Is Clear. Whether One Believes In Religion Or Not, Whether One Believes In This Religion Or That Religion, We All Are Seeking Something Better In Life. So, I Think, The Very Motion Of Our Life Is Towards Happiness.

To Combat Hatred Directed Toward A Person, A Buddhist Cultivates Loving Kindness Toward That Person.

Too Much Of A Self-centered Attitude Creates Mistrust And Suspicion In Others, Which Can In Turn Lead To Fear. But If You Have More Of An Open Mind, And You Cultivate A Sense Of Concern For Others' Well-being, Then, No Matter What Others' Attitudes Are, You Can Keep Your Inner Peace.

Concern For Others

Media People Should Have Long Noses Like An Elephant To Smell Out Politicians, Mayors, Prime Ministers And Businessmen. We Need To Know The Reality, The Good And The Bad, Not Just The Appearance.

An Enemy Is Indeed A Precious Teacher.

A Balanced And Skillful Approach To Life, Taking Care To Avoid Extremes, Becomes A Very Important Factor In Conducting One's Everyday Existence.

I Am Convinced That Human Nature Is Basically Affectionate And Good. If Our Behavior Follows Our Kind And Loving Nature, Immense Benefits Will Result, Not Only For Ourselves, But Also For The Society To Which We Belong. I Generally Refer To This Sort Of Love And Affection As A Universal Religion. Everyone Needs It, Believers As Much As Non-believers. This Attitude Constitutes The Very Basis Of Morality.

We Are Social Animals. Others' Suffering Is Ultimately Your Suffering; Their Happiness Is Ultimately Your Happiness.

The Feeling Of Being Happy Or Unhappy Rarely Depends On Our Absolute State, But On Our Perception Of The Situation, On Our Capacity To Be Satisfied With What We Have.

The Way To Change Others' Minds Is With Affection, And Not Anger.

There Are Differences Between Us. But It Doesn't Make Sense To Emphasize That, Because My Future And Yours Is Connected With Everyone Else's. So We Have To Take Seriously Our Concern For All Of Humanity. When We Focus On Our Individuality, Humanity Inevitably Suffers. And Once Humanity Suffers, Each One Of Us Will Also Suffer.

The Enemy Is The Necessary Condition For Practicing Patience.

Many Problems That Confront Us Today Are Created By Man, Whether They Are Violent Conflicts, Destruction Of The Environment, Poverty Or Hunger. These Problems Can Be Resolved Thanks To Human Efforts By Understanding That We Are Brother And Sister And By Developing This Sense Of Closeness. We Must Cultivate A Universal Responsibility Toward Each Other And Extend It To The Planet That We Have To Share.

In Dealing With Those Who Are Undergoing Great Suffering, If You Feel "burnout" Setting In, If You Feel Demoralized And Exhausted, It Is Best, For The Sake Of Everyone, To Withdraw And Restore Yourself. The Point Is To Have A Long-term Perspective.

Even When A Person Has All Of Life's Comforts - Good Food, Good Shelter, A Companion - He Or She Can Still Become Unhappy When Encountering A Tragic Situation.

Because Past Environmental Destruction Was The Result Of Ignorance, We Can Easily Forgive It. Today, We Are Better Informed. Therefore, It's Essential That We Make An Ethical Examination Of What We Have Inherited, What We Are Responsible For, And What We Will Pass On To Coming Generations. Ours Is Clearly A Pivotal Generation. We Have Global Communication And Yet Confrontation Is More Common Than Dialogue.

What Is Important Is To See How We Can Best Lead A Meaningful Everyday Life, How We Can Bring About Peace And Harmony In Our Minds, How We Can Help Contribute To Society.

If We Develop Concern For Other People's Welfare, Share Other People's Suffering, And Help Them, Ultimately We Will Benefit. If We Think Only Of Ourselves And Forget About Others, Ultimately We Will Lose. The More We Care For The Happiness Of Others, The Greater Our Own Sense Of Well-being Becomes.

Concern For Others

Right From The Moment Of Our Birth, We Are Under The Care And Kindness Of Our Parents, And Then Later On In Our Life When We Are Oppressed By Sickness And Become Old, We Are Again Dependent On The Kindness Of Others. Since At The Beginning And End Of Our Lives We Are So Dependent On Other's Kindness, How Can It Be In The Middle That We Would Neglect Kindness Towards Others?

Humans Are Not Machines-we Are Something More. We Have Feeling And Experience. Material Comforts Are Not Sufficient To Satisfy Us. We Need Something Deeper-human Affection.

The Only Clear Thing Is That We Humans Are The Only Species With The Power To Destroy The Earth As We Know It. The Birds Have No Such Power, Nor Do The Insects, Nor Does Any Mammal. Yet If We Have The Capacity To Destroy The Earth, So, Too, Do We Have The Capacity To Protect It.

Happiness Mainly Comes From Our Own Attitude, Rather Than From External Factors.

I Am Convinced That Everyone Can Develop A Good Heart And A Sense Of Universal Responsibility With Or Without Religion.

Your Friend, Your Enemy, Your Neutral All Are Equal. Genuine Compassion Is Unbiased.

Of Course, When I Say That Human Nature Is Gentleness, It Is Not 100 Percent So. Every Human Being Has That Nature, But There Are Many People Acting Against Their Nature, Being False.

The Buddha Gave Equal Opportunities To Women. But We, Even As Followers Of Buddha, Neglected That.

A Great Rock Is Not Disturbed By The Wind; The Mind Of A Wise Man Is Not Disturbed By Either Honor Or Abuse.

Developing Love And Compassion And Reducing Anger And Spite Is A Universal Activity Which Requires No Faith In Any Religion Whatsoever

It Is Important Not To Allow Ourselves To Be Put Off By The Magnitude Of Others' Suffering. The Misery Of Millions Is Not A Cause For Pity. Rather It Is A Cause For Compassion.

Up To Now My Involvement In The Tibetan Freedom Struggle Has Been Part Of My Spiritual Practice, Because The Issues Of The Survival Of The Buddha Teaching And The Freedom Of Tibet Are Very Much Related. In This Particular Struggle, There Is No Problem With Many Monks And Nuns, Including Myself, Joining.

The Fact That There Is Always A Positive Side To Life Is The One Thing That Gives Me A Lot Of Happiness. This World Is Not Perfect. There Are Problems. But Things Like Happiness And Unhappiness Are Relative. Realizing This Gives You Hope.

Compassion Suits Our Physical Condition, Whereas Anger, Fear And Distrust Are Harmful To Our Well-being. Therefore, Just As We Learn The Importance Of Physical Hygiene To Physical Health, To Ensure Healthy Minds, We Need To Learn Some Kind Of Emotional Hygiene.

No Single Tibetan Dreaming Return Of Previous Sort Of Backwardness, Therefore As Far As Economy Development Is Concerned, Tibet Remain Within The People's Republic Of China, We Will Get Greater Benefit.

I Believe Compassion To Be One Of The Few Things We Can Practice That Will Bring Immediate And Long-term Happiness To Our Lives. I'm Not Talking About The Short-term Gratification Of Pleasures Like Sex, Drugs Or Gambling (though I'm Not Knocking Them), But Something That Will Bring True And Lasting Happiness. The Kind That Sticks.

I Could Justify Violence Only In This Extreme Case, To Save The Last Living Knowledge Of Buddhism Itself.

Sectarian Feelings And Criticism Of Other Teachings Or Other Sects Is Very Bad, Poisonous, And Should Be Avoided.

When We Feel Love And Kindness Toward Others, It Not Only Makes Others Feel Loved And Cared For, But It Helps Us Also To Develop Inner Happiness And Peace.

All Beings Want To Live In Peace And Happiness, Undisturbed. Therefore The Concept Of Human Rights Is Universal.

Peace And Happiness

When A Problem First Arises, Try To Remain Humble And Maintain A Sincere Attitude, And Be Concerned That The Outcome Is Fair.

Whether You Call It Buddhism Or Another Religion, Self-discipline, That's Important. Self-discipline With Awareness Of Consequences.

One Has To Try To Develop One's Inner Feelings, Which Can Be Done Simply By Training One's Mind. This Is A Priceless Human Asset And One You Don't Have To Pay Income Tax On!

A Genuine Transformation That Results From Sustained Concerted Effort Is Long Lasting Because It Has A Firm Foundation.

Compassion Is Concern Of Others' Well Being.

An Open Heart Is An Open Mind.

There Are Two Kinds Of Satisfaction Or Happiness: One Mainly Through Mental Peace; Another Physical Comfort

Because My Main Concern Is The Tibetan Buddhist Culture, Not Just Political Independence, I Cannot Seek Self-rule For Central Tibet And Exclude The 4 Million Tibetans In Our Two Eastern Provinces Of Amdo And Kham.

Just As Compassion Is The Wish That All Sentient Beings Be Free Of Suffering, Loving-kindness Is The Wish That All May Enjoy Happiness.

I Am Simply Just One Monk. That's All.

Share Your Knowledge. It Is A Way To Achieve Immortality.

According To Buddhist Psychology Most Of Our Troubles Stem From Attachment To Things That We Mistakenly See As Permanent.

The Greater The Level Of Calmness Of Our Mind, The Greater Our Peace Of Mind, The Greater Our Ability To Enjoy A Happy And Joyful Life.

It Is Very Wrong For People To Feel Deeply Sad When They Lose Some Money, Yet When They Waste The Precious Moments Of Their Lives They Do Not Have The Slightest Feeling Of Repentance.

The Practice Of Love Can Be Expressed In One Sentence: 'do Not Harm Others.'

Love And Compassion Are Necessities, Not Luxuries. Without Them, Humanity Cannot Survive.""laughter Is Good For Thinking Because When People Laugh, It Is Easier For Them To Admit New Ideas To Their Minds.

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.

When Ever Buddhism Has Taken Root In A New Land, There Has Been A Certain Variation In The Style In Which It Is Observed. The Buddha Himself Taught Differently According To The Place, The Occasion And The Situation Of Those Who Were Listening To Him.

It Is My Fundamental Conviction That Compassion - The Natural Capacity Of The Human Heart To Feel Concern For And Connection With Another Human Being - Constitutes A Basic Aspect Of Our Nature Shared By All Human Beings, As Well As Being The Foundation Of Our Happiness. All Ethical Teachings, Whether Religious Or Nonreligious, Aim To Nurture This Innate And Precious Quality, To Develop It And To Perfect It.

We Are Beset By Problems And If We Look For Their Source, We Find They Arise Because Of Our Selfishness, Because We Tend To Pursue Our Own Interests At The Expense Of Others. Our Various Religious Traditions Exist To Help Us Reduce These Problems. They All Teach Ways To Overcome Suffering Through Cultivating Love And Compassion, Tolerance, Patience And Contentment.

All Religions Are Essentially The Same In Their Goal Of Developing A Good Human Heart So That We May Become Better Human Beings.

Each One Of Us Is Responsible For The Whole Of Humankind. We Need To Think Of Each Other Really As Brothers And Sisters And To Be Concerned For Each Other’s Welfare. Rather Than Working Solely To Acquire Wealth, We Need To Do Something Meaningful, Something Directed Seriously Towards The Welfare Of Humanity As A Whole.

To Remain Indifferent To The Challenges We Face Is Indefensible. If The Goal Is Noble, Whether Or Not It Is Realized Within Our Lifetime Is Largely Irrelevant. What We Must Do Therefore Is To Strive And Persevere And Never Give Up.

If Someone Remains In A Peaceful And Tranquil State Of Mind, External Surroundings Can Cause Them Only A Limited Disturbance.

When We Think Carefully, We See That The Brief Elation We Experience When Appeasing Sensual Impulses May Not Be Very Different From What The Drug Addict Feels When Indulging His Or Her Habit. Temporary Relief Is Soon Followed By A Craving For More. And In Just The Same Way That Taking Drugs In The End Only Causes Trouble, So, Too, Does Much Of What We Undertake To Fulfill Our Immediate Sensory Desires.

Calm Mind Brings Inner Strength And Self-confidence, So That's Very Important For Good Health.

Self Confidence

The Motivation Of All Religious Practice Is Similar: Love, Sincerity, Honesty. The Way Of Life Of Practically All Religious Persons Is Consistent. The Teachings Of Tolerance, Love, And Compassion Are The Same.

I Have Found That The Greatest Degree Of Inner Peace Comes From Cultivating Love And Compassion.

I Do Not See Any Reason Why Animals Should Be Slaughtered To Serve As Human Diet When There Are So Many Substitutes. After All, Man Can Live Without Meat. It Is Only Some Carnivorous Animals That Have To Subsist On Flesh. Killing Animals For Sport, For Pleasure, For Adventures, And For Hides And Furs Is A Phenomenon Which Is At Once Disgusting And Distressing. There Is No Justification In Indulging In Such Acts Of Brutality . . . Life Is As Dear To A Mute Creature As It Is To A Man. Just As One Wants Happiness And Fears Pain, Just As One Wants To Live And Not To Die, So Do Other Creatures.

We Are All Basically The Same Human Beings, Who Seek Happiness And Try To Avoid Suffering. Everybody Is My Peer Group. Your Feeling "i Am Of No Value" Is Wrong. Absolutely Wrong.

The Nature Of Our Motivation Determines The Character Of Our Work.

I Describe Myself As A Simple Buddhist Monk. No More, No Less.

I Think Many People Knows What I Am Thinking. The Whole World Knows I Am Not Seeking Independence, Therefore Is Many Tibetan Disappointed, And Also Some Of Our Supporters - Many Indians, Many Europeans, Many Americans Are Also Disappointed Because I Am Not Seeking Independence.

Feelings Of Anger, Bitterness, And Hate Are Negative. If I Kept Those Inside Me, They Would Spoil My Body And My Health. The Are Of No Use.

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.'

If You Have Religious Faith, Very Good, You Can Add On Secular Ethics, Then Religious Belief, Add On It, Very Good. But Even Those People Who Have No Interest About Religion, Okay, It's Not Religion, But You Can Train Through Education.

Passion Is What Gives Sense To Our Life.

To Be Aware Of A Single Shortcoming Within Oneself Is More Useful Than To Be Aware Of A Thousand In Somebody Else.

Killing Animals For Sport, For Pleasure, For Adventure, And For Hides And Furs Is A Phenomena Which Is At Once Disgusting And Distressing. There Is No Justification In Indulging Is Such Acts Of Brutality.

Funny Inspirational

With Realization Of One's Own Potential And Self-confidence In One's Ability, One Can Build A Better World.

Perhaps Our Teachings Seem Less Religious And More Technical, Like Psychology, So They Are Easier For Secular People To Use.

An Eye For An Eye....we Are All Blind

It's Unrealistic To Think That The Future Of Humanity Can Be Achieved Only On The Basis Of Prayer; What We Need Is To Take Action.

If Someone Has A Gun And Is Trying To Kill You, It Would Be Reasonable To Shoot Back With Your Own Gun.

My Message Is Always The Same: To Cultivate And Practice Love, Kindness, Compassion And Tolerance.

If I Say, "i Am A Monk." Or "i Am A Buddhist," These Are, In Comparison To My Nature As A Human Being, Temporary. To Be Human Is Basic.

I Have Found That The Greatest Degree Of Inner Tranquility Comes From The Development Of Love And Compassion. The More We Care For The Happiness Of Others, The Greater Is Our Own Sense Of Well-being. Cultivating A Close, Warmhearted Feeling For Others Automatically Puts The Mind At Ease. It Is The Ultimate Source Of Success In Life.

Compassion Instills A Sense Of Calm, Inner Strength, And A Deep Confidence And Satisfaction

My Earnest Request Is That You Practice Love And Kindness Whether You Believe In A Religion Or Not

Tibet Is Not Like Kuwait. Kuwait Has Oil.

Anger Cannot Be Overcome By Anger. If Someone Is Angry With You, And You Show Anger In Return, The Result Is A Disaster. On The Other Hand, If You Control Your Anger And Show Its Opposite - Love, Compassion, Tolerance And Patience - Not Only Will You Remain Peaceful, But The Other Person's Anger Will Also Diminish.

Change Only Takes Place Through Action, Not Through Meditation And Prayer.

If You Can, Help Others; If You Cannot Do That, At Least Do Not Harm Them.

I Find That Because Of Modern Technological Evolution And Our Global Economy, And As A Result Of The Great Increase In Population, Our World Has Greatly Changed: It Has Become Much Smaller. However, Our Perceptions Have Not Evolved At The Same Pace; We Continue To Cling To Old National Demarcations And The Old Feelings Of 'us' And 'them'.

All Living Beings Have Experience Of Pleasure And Pain, And We Are Among Them. What Makes Human Beings Different Is That We Have A Powerful Intelligence And A Much Greater Ability To Achieve Happiness And Avoid Suffering. Real Happiness And Friendship Come Not From Money Or Even Knowledge, But From Warm-heartednes S. Once We Recognize This We Will Be More Inclined To Cultivate It.

Our Prime Purpose In This Life Is To Help Others. And If You Can't Help Them, At Least Don't Hurt Them.

Love Is A Simple Practice Yet It Is Very Beneficial For The Individual Who Practices It As Well As For The Community In Which He Lives, For The Nation, And For The Whole World

As Our Own Peace Of Mind Grows, So The Atmosphere Around Us Becomes More Peaceful.

Peace Starts Within Each One Of Us. When We Have Inner Peace, We Can Be At Peace With Those Around Us.

It Is The Enemy Who Can Truly Teach Us To Practice The Virtues Of Compassion And Tolerance.

Each Of Us Must Learn To Work Not Just For One Self, One's Own Family Or One's Nation, But For The Benefit Of All Humankind. Universal Responsibility Is The Key To Human Survival. It Is The Best Foundation For World Peace.

Self-discipline, Although Difficult, And Not Always Easy While Combating Negative Emotions, Should Be A Defensive Measure. At Least We Will Be Able To Prevent The Advent Of Negative Conduct Dominated By Negative Emotion. That Is 'shila', Or Moral Ethics. Once We Develop This By Familiarizing Ourselves With It, Along With Mindfulness And Conscientiousness, Eventually That Pattern And Way Of Life Will Become A Part Of Our Own Life.

Anger And Hatred Lead To Fear; Compassion And Concern For Others Allow Us To Develop Self-confidence, Which Breeds Trust And Friendship.

Self Confidence

Concern For Others

Morally Speaking, We Should Be Concerned For Our Whole Environment.

Many People Think That Patience Is A Sign Of Weakness. I Think This Is A Mistake. It Is Anger That Is A Sign Of Weakness, Whereas Patience Is A Sign Of Strength

If Indeed The Qualities Such As Love, Patience, Tolerance, And Forgiveness Are What Happiness Consists In, And If It Is Also True That Compassion, Defined As Concern For Others, Is Both The Source And The Fruit Of These Qualities, Then The More We Are Compassionate, The More We Provide For Our Own Happiness.

Concern For Others

The Very Purpose Of Our Life Is To Seek Happiness.

Ultimately, The Human Being Is In The Mercy Of Nature.

If There Are Sound Reasons Or Bases For The Points You Demand, Then There Is No Need For Violence. On The Other Hand, When There Is No Sound Reason That Concessions Should Be Made To You But Mainly Your Own Desire, Then Reason Cannot Work And You Have To Rely On Force. Thus Using Force Is Not A Sign Of Strength But Rather A Sign Of Weakness.

"the True Essence Of Humankind Is Kindness. There Are Other Qualities Which Come From Education Or Knowledge, But It Is Essential, If One Wishes To Be A Genuine Human Being And Impart Satisfying Meaning To One's Existence, To Have A Good Heart."

We All Need Basic Human Values Rooted In Trust And Affection.

More Fundamental Than Religion Is Our Basic Human Spirituality. We Have A Basic Human Disposition Towards Love, Kindness And Affection, Irrespective Of Whether We Have A Religious Framework Or Not. When We Nurture This Most Basic Human Resource - When We Set About Cultivating Those Basic Inner Values Which We All Appreciate In Others, Then We Start To Live Spiritually.

If We Wish To Ensure Everyone’s Peace And Happiness We Need To Cultivate A Healthy Respect For The Diversity Of Our Peoples And Cultures, Founded On An Understanding Of This Fundamental Sameness Of All Human Beings

It Is Not Enough Simply To Wish That Love And Compassion Should Increase In Us. We Need To Make A Sustained Effort, Again And Again, To Cultivate The Positive Aspects Within Us - And The Key Here Is Constant Familiarity. The Nature Of Human Thoughts And Emotions Is Such That The More You Engage In Them, The More You Consciously Develop Them, The More Powerful They Become.

It Is Our Enemies Who Provide Us With The Challenge We Need To Develop The Qualities Of Tolerance, Patience And Compassion.

Human Happiness And Human Satisfaction Must Ultimately Come From Within Oneself. It Is Wrong To Expect Some Final Satisfaction To Come From Money Or From A Computer.

We Can Reject Everything Else: Religion, Ideology, All Received Wisdom. But We Cannot Escape The Necessity Of Love And Compassion. This, Then, Is My True Religion, My Simple Faith. In This Sense, There Is No Need For Temple Or Church, For Mosque Or Synagogue, No Need For Complicated Philosophy, Doctrine, Or Dogma. Our Own Heart, Our Own Mind, Is The Temple. The Doctrine Is Compassion. Love For Others And Respect For Their Rights And Dignity, No Matter Who Or What They Are: Ultimately These Are All We Need.

Despite All Philosophical Differences, All Major World Religions Have The Same Potential To Create Good Human Beings.

World Religions

If Your Own Mental Attitude Is Correct, Even If You Remain In A Hostile Atmosphere, You Feel Happy.

If We See Pride Among People Who Have No Idea About Dharma, It Is Understandable. However, If Afflictive Emotions And Haughtiness Are Present Among Dharma Practitioners, It Is Great Disgrace To Practice

Although Under Particular Circumstances, The Violence Method - Any Method - Can Be Justified, Nevertheless Once You Commit Violence, Then Counterviolence Will Be Returned.

It Seems To Me That Self Confidence And The Ability To Stand One's Ground Are Essential If We Want To Succeed In Life. I Am Not Talking Of Stupid Self-assurance But Of An Awareness Of Our Inner Potential, A Certainty That We Can Always Correct Our Behavior, Improve Ourselves, Enrich Ourselves, And That Things Are Never Hopeless

Self Confidence

If You Are Honest, Truthful, And Transparent, People Trust You. If People Trust You, You Have No Grounds For Fear, Suspicion Or Jealousy.

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.

Pursuit Of Happiness

We Must Each Lead A Way Of Life With Self-awareness And Compassion, To Do As Much As We Can. Then, Whatever Happens We Will Have No Regrets.

We May Be Different Races And Religions But We Are All Part Of The Same Human Family

We Have Made A Great Effort To Maintain All Levels Of Buddhist Education; It Has Helped Us Have A Kind Of Renaissance, Really.

If You Wish To Heal Your Own Sadness Or Anger, Seek To Heal The Sadness Or Anger Of Another. Those Others Are Waiting For You Now. They Are Looking To You For Guidance, For Help, For Courage, For Strength, For Understanding, And For Assurance At This Hour. Most Of All, They Are Looking To You For Love.

There Should Be Pluralism - The Concept Of Many Religions, Many Truths. But We Must Also Be Careful Not To Become Nihilistic.

In Our Own Case, We Don't Consider The Loss Of A Monastery Or A Monument The End Of Our Entire Way Of Life. If One Monastery Is Destroyed, Sometimes It Happens.

Historically, The East Was More Concerned With Understanding The Mind And The West Was More Involved In Understanding Matter.

Anger Is The Real Destroyer Of Our Good Human Qualities; An Enemy With A Weapon Cannot Destroy These Qualities, But Anger Can. Anger Is Our Real Enemy.

Sleep Is The Best Meditation.

Once A Year Go Someplace You've Never Been.

The World Will Be Changed By Western Women.

Prayer Alone Will Not Make A Happy Life. A Happy Life Must Be Built. You Must Act.

Americans Are Interested Because They Are Open-minded. They Have An Education System That Teaches Them To Find Out For Themselves Why Things Are The Way They Are. Open-minded People Tend To Be Interested In Buddhism Because Buddha Urged People To Investigate Things - He Didn't Just Command Them To Believe.

Too Much Self-centered Attitude, You See, Brings, You See, Isolation. Result: Loneliness, Fear, Anger. The Extreme Self-centered Attitude Is The Source Of Suffering.

As People Alive Today, We Must Consider Future Generations: A Clean Environment Is A Human Right Like Any Other. It Is Therefore Part Of Our Responsibility Toward Others To Ensure That The World We Pass On Is As Healthy, If Not Healthier, Than We Found It.

Through Violence, You May 'solve' One Problem, But You Sow The Seeds For Another.

To Reduce Destructive Emotions We Need To Strengthen Constructive Emotions. For Example, To Counter Anger We Cultivate Love And Compassion.

Children Are Our Greatest Untapped Resource.

I Feel That Compassionate Thought Is The Most Precious Thing There Is. It Is Something That Only We Human Beings Can Develop. And If We Have A Good Heart, A Warm Heart, Warm Feelings, We Will Be Happy And Satisfied Ourselves, And Our Friends Will Experience A Friendly And Peaceful Atmosphere As Well. This Can Be Experienced Community To Community, Country To Country, Continent To Continent.

The Ultimate Source Of My Mental Happiness Is My Peace Of Mind. Nothing Can Destroy This Except My Own Anger.

Without Changing One's Self, Without Peace In One's Self, World Peace Is Not Possible.

The Problems We Face Today, Violent Conflicts, Destruction Of Nature, Poverty, Hunger, And So On, Are Human-created Problems Which Can Be Resolved Through Human Effort, Understanding And The Development Of A Sense Of Brotherhood And Sisterhood. We Need To Cultivate A Universal Responsibility For One Another And The Planet We Share.

True Friendship Develops Not As A Result Of Money Or Power But On The Basis Of Genuine Human Affection.

Tibetans Must Take Full Authority And Responsibility For Developing Industry, Looking From All Different Perspectives, Taking Care Of The Environment, Conserving Resources For Long-term Economic Health, And Safeguarding The Interests Of Tibetan Workers, Nomads, And Farmers.

Reality Is Devoid Of Any Intrinsic Identity That Can Be Captured By Any One Single Proposition - That Is What Buddha Meant By "voidness."

Although You Can Find Certain Differences Among The Buddhist Philosophical Schools About How The Universe Came Into Being, The Basic Common Question Addressed Is How The Two Fundamental Principles-external Matter And Internal Mind Or Consciousness-although Distinct, Affect One Another. External Causes And Conditions Are Responsible For Certain Of Our Experiences Of Happiness And Suffering. Yet We Find That It Is Principally Our Own Feelings, Our Thoughts And Our Emotions, That Really Determine Whether We Are Going To Suffer Or Be Happy.

Since At The Beginning And End Of Our Lives We Are So Dependent On Other's Kindness, How Can It Be In ......the Middle That We Would Neglect Kindness Towards Others?

Beginnings And Ends

There Are Two Kinds Of Happiness - The Temporary Pleasure Derived Primarily From Material Comfort Alone And Another More Enduring Comfort That Results From The Thorough Transformation And Development Of The Mind. We Can See In Our Own Lives That The Latter Form Of Happiness Is Superior Because When Our Mental State Is Calm And Happy, We Can Easily Put Up With Minor Pains And Physical Discomforts. On The Other Hand, When Our Mind Is Restless And Upset, The Most Comfortable Physical Facilities Do Not Make Us Happy.

‎interdependence Is A Fundamental Law Of Nature. Even Tiny Insects Survive By Mutual Cooperation Based On Innate Recognition Of Their Interconnectedness. It Is Because Our Own Human Existence Is So Dependent On The Help Of Others That Our Need For Love Lies At The Very Foundation Of Our Existence. Therefore We Need A Genuine Sense Of Responsibility And A Sincere Concern For The Welfare Of Others.

However Capable And Skillful An Individual May Be, Left Alone, He Or She Will Not Survive. When We Are Sick Or Very Young Or Very Old, We Must Depend On The Support Of Others. There Is No Significant Division Between Us And Other People, Because Our Basic Natures Are The Same. If We Wish To Ensure Everyone's Peace And Happiness, We Need To Cultivate A Healthy Respect For The Diversity Of Our Peoples And Cultures, Founded On An Understanding Of This Fundamental Sameness Of All Human Beings.

Whenever I Visit A Market And See The Chickens Crowded Together In Tiny Cages That Give Them No Room To Move Around And Spread Their Wings And The Fish Slowly Drowning In The Air, My Heart Goes Out To Them. People Have To Learn To Think About Animals In A Different Way, As Sentient Beings Who Love Life And Fear Death. I Urge Everyone Who Can To Adopt A Compassionate Vegetarian Diet.

Trending Author

Mary Lou Retton

Category