Dalai Lama XIV Quotes

As a Buddhist, I see no distinction between religious practice and daily life. Religious practice is a twenty-four hour occupation.

Dalai Lama XIV

Everybody wants a happy life and a peaceful mind, but we have to produce peace of mind through our own practice.

Dalai Lama XIV

I took note of the Buddha's teaching that in one sense a supposed enemy is more valuable than a friend, for an enemy teaches you things, such as forbearance, that a friend generally does not.

Dalai Lama XIV

In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.

Dalai Lama XIV

Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.

Dalai Lama XIV

Our ancient experience confirms at every point that everything is linked together, everything is inseparable.

Dalai Lama XIV

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

Dalai Lama XIV

Those questions which are unexpected and complicated are the ones I appreciate most. They can help me a great deal. as I am compelled to take an interest in something that might not otherwise have occurred to me.

Dalai Lama XIV

Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.

Dalai Lama XIV

If there is no solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it. If there is a solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it.

Dalai Lama XIV

If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.

Dalai Lama XIV

The demarcation between a positive and a negative desire or action is not whether it gives you a immediate feeling of satisfaction but whether it ultimately results in positive or negative consequences

Dalai Lama XIV

The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.

Dalai Lama XIV

If your mental health is sound, then when disturbances come, you will have some distress but quickly recover.

Dalai Lama XIV

In order to lead a meaningful life, you need to cherish others, pay attention to human values and try to cultivate inner peace.

Dalai Lama XIV

The highest happiness is when one reaches the stage of Liberation, at which there is no more suffering. That’s genuine, lasting happiness. True happiness relates more to the mind and heart. Happiness that depends mainly on physical pleasure is unstable; one day it’s there, the next day it may not be.

Dalai Lama XIV

The purpose of religion is tocontrol yourself, not to criticiseothers.

Dalai Lama XIV

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.

Dalai Lama XIV

...I discovered a small kitten in the garden, which apparently had been abandoned by its mother. I picked it up and noticed that its hind legs were crippled in just the same way as Tsering's were when she died. I took this creature into my house and looked after it until eventually it was able to walk. Like Tsering, she was also female, but very beautiful and even more gentle. She also got along very well with the two dogs, particularly Sangye, against whose furry chest she liked to lie.

Dalai Lama XIV

Water may be extremely dirty, yet its nature remains clear.

Dalai Lama XIV

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.

Dalai Lama XIV

if we lose our human values by having everything mechanied, then machines will dictate our lives.

Dalai Lama XIV

The practice of cultivating altruism has a beneficial effect not only from the religious point of view but also from the mundane point of view, not only for long term spiritual development but even in terms of immediate rewards.

Dalai Lama XIV

Spend some time alone every day.

Dalai Lama XIV

NEVER GIVE UPNo matter what is going onNever give upDevelop the heartToo much energy in your countryIs spent developing the mindInstead of the heartBe compassionateNot just to your friendsBut to everyoneBe compassionateWork for peaceIn your heart and in the worldWork for peaceAnd I say againNever give upNo matter what is going on around youNever give up

Dalai Lama XIV

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.

Dalai Lama XIV

On the philosophical level, both Buddhism and modern science share a deep suspicion of any notion of absolutes, whether conceptualize as a transcendent being, as an eternal, unchanging principle such as soul, or as a fundamental substratum of reality. ... In the Buddhist investigation of reality, at least in principle, empirical evidence should triumph over scriptural authority, no matter how deeply venerated a scripture may be. ~ 14th Dalai Lama in his talk to the Society for Neuroscience in 2005 in Washington.

Dalai Lama XIV

To practice tantra requires even greater compassion and greater intelligence than are required on the sutra path; thus, though many persons in the degenerate era are interested in tantra, tantra is not for degenerate persons. Tantra is limited to persons whose compassion is so great that they cannot bear to spend unnecessary time in attaining Buddhahood, as they want to be a supreme source of help and happiness for others quickly.

Dalai Lama XIV

Whilst on the subject of the spread of Buddhism in the West, I want to say that I have noticed some tendency towards sectarianism amongst new practitioners. This is absolutely wrong. Religion should never become a source of conflict, a further factor of division within the human community.

Dalai Lama XIV

We can see that there are many ways in which we actively contribute to our own experience of mental unrest and suffering. Although, in general, mental and emotional afflictions themselves can come naturally, often it is our own reinforcement of those negative emotions that makes them so much worse. For instance when we have anger or hatred towards a person, there is less likelihood of its developing to a very intense degree if we leave it unattended.However, if we think about the projected injustices done to us, the ways in which we have been unfairly treated, and we keep on thinking about them over and over, then that feeds the hatred. It makes the hatred very powerful and intense. Of course, the same can apply to when we have an attachment towards a particular person; we can feed that by thinking about how beautiful he or she is, and as we keep thinking about the projected qualities that we see in the person, the attachment becomes more and more intense. But this shows how through constant familiarity and thinking, we ourselves can make our emotions more intense and powerful.

Dalai Lama XIV

Like a lamp, dispelling the darkness of ignorance

Dalai Lama XIV

We cannot learn real patience and tolerance from a guru or a friend. They can be practiced only when we come in contact with someone who creates unpleasant experiences.

Dalai Lama XIV

The enemy is the necessary condition for practicing patience.

Dalai Lama XIV

When I doubt that I exist, I pinch myself.

Dalai Lama XIV

We must conduct research and then accept the results. If they don't stand up to experimentation, Buddha's own words must be rejected.

Dalai Lama XIV

The secret to my own happiness, my own good future, is within my own hands. I must not miss that opportunity!

Dalai Lama XIV

The purpose of our lives is to be happy-Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama XIV

Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.

Dalai Lama XIV

Those who have little interest in spirituality shouldn’t think that human inner values don’t apply to you. The inner peace of an alert and calm mind are the source of real happiness and good health. Our human intelligence tells us which of our emotions are positive and helpful and which are damaging and to be restrained or avoided. - 12/7/2012 on his Facebook page

Dalai Lama XIV

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:'Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.

Dalai Lama XIV

Can there be a completely different set of laws of physics in a different universe, or do the laws of physics as we understand them hold true in all possible universes? If the answer is that a different set of laws can operate in a different universe system, this would suggest (from a Buddhist perspective) that even the laws of physics are entangled with the karma of the sentient beings that will arise in that universe.

Dalai Lama XIV

In the end, the innate desire of all people for truth, justice, and human understanding must triumph over ignorance and despair.

Dalai Lama XIV

The more honest you are, the more open, the less fear you will have, because there's no anxiety about being exposed or revealed to others.

Dalai Lama XIV

Use your good common sense. Is anger useful? If you get angry at someone, the result is good neither for you nor for the other person. Nothing helpful comes of it. In the end, anger does not harm others; it hurts yourself.

Dalai Lama XIV

In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.

Dalai Lama XIV

We must recognize that the suffering of one person or one nation is the suffering of humanity.

Dalai Lama XIV

...[A]ccording to Buddhism in the Tibetan tradition, a being that achieves Buddhahood, although freed from Samsara,the 'wheel of suffering', as the phenomenon of existence is known, will continue to return to work for the benefit of all other sentient beings until such time as each one is similarly liberated.

Dalai Lama XIV

Cultivate the understanding that the self is not really an independently existing entity, and begin to view self instead in terms of it's dependent relation to others. Although it is difficult to say that merely reflecting on this will produce a profound spiritual realization, it will at least have some effect. Your mind will be more open. Something will begin to change within you. Therefore, even in the immediate term there is definitely a positive and beneficial effect in reversing these two attitudes and moving from self-centeredness to other-centeredness, from belief in self existence to belief in dependent origination.

Dalai Lama XIV

afflictions are classed as peripheral mental factors and are not themselves any of the six main minds [eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mental consciousnesses]. however, when any of the afflicting mental factors becomes manifest, a main mind [a mental consciousness] comes under its influence, goes wherever the affliction leads it, and 'accumulates' a bad action.there are a great many different kinds of afflictions, but the chief of them are desire, hatred, pride, wrong view and so forth. of these, desire and hatred are chief. because of an initial attachment to oneself, hatred arises when something undesirable occurs. further, through being attached to oneself the pride that holds one to be superior arises, and similarly when one has no knowledge of something, a wrong view that holds the object of this knowledge to be non-existent arises.how do self-attachment and so forth arise in such great force? because of beginningless conditioning, the mind tightly holds to 'i, i' even in dreams, and through the power of this conception, self-attachment and so forth occur. this false conception of 'i' arises because of one's lack of knowledge concerning the mode of existence of things. the fact that all objects are empty of inherent existence is obscured and one conceives things to exist inherently; the strong conception of 'i' derives from this. therefore, the conception that phenomena inherently exist is the afflicting ignorance that is the ultimate root of all afflictions.

Dalai Lama XIV

My earnest request is that you practice love and kindness whether you believe in a religion or not.

Dalai Lama XIV

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. And be kinder than is necessary.

Dalai Lama XIV

Be kind to UNKIND people.They need it the most.

Dalai Lama XIV

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.-Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama XIV

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.

Dalai Lama XIV

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 toward your enemy for providing you that precious opportunity. Because if you are ever to be successful in your practice of patience and tolerance, which are critical factors in counteracting negative emotions, it is due to your own efforts and also the opportunity provided by your enemy.

Dalai Lama XIV

I always try to share with others the idea that in order to become compassionate it is not necessary to become religious.

Dalai Lama XIV

He told me that while he was in a Chinese Communist gulag for almost eighteen years, he faced danger on a few occasions. I thought he was referencing a threat to his own life. But when I asked, "What danger?" he answered, "Losing compassion toward the Chinese.

Dalai Lama XIV

Once we are able to combine a feeling of empathy for others with a profound understanding of the suffering they experience, we become able to generate genuine compassion for them. We must work at this continually.

Dalai Lama XIV

Contemplating this suffering which is unbearable to us, and is unbearable to others, too, can produce awake mind, which arises from the compassion that wishes to free all living beings from suffering.

Dalai Lama XIV

Great compassion is the root of altruistic action, the object of amazement to the world;there is no greater source of help and happiness.

Dalai Lama XIV

1 2 3 Next