Your friend, your enemy, your neutral all are equal. Genuine compassion is unbiased.
Had Tibet not fallen away from dharma China could not have invaded.
Buddhism does not accept a theory of God, or a creator. According to Buddhism, one’s own actions are the creator, ultimately. Some people say that, from a certain angle, Buddhism is not a religion but rather a science of mind.
Religion does not mean just precepts, a temple, monastery, or other external signs, for these as well as hearing and thinking are subsidiary factors in taming the mind.
We need to teach people that the environment has a direct bearing on our own benefit.
I feel that a genuine, affectionate smile is very important in our day-to-day lives. How one creates that smile largely depends on one’s own attitude. It is illogical to expect smiles from others if one does not smile oneself. Therefore, one can see that many things depend on one’s own behaviour.
For change to happen in any community, the initiative must come from the individual.
As human beings we are all the same. We have this marvelous intelligence, which sometimes creates problems for us, but when influenced by warm-heartedness can be very constructive. In this context we need to appreciate the value of having moral principles.
By developing a sense of respect for others and a concern for their welfare, we reduce our own selfishness, which is the source of all problems, and enhance our sense of kindness, which is a natural source of goodness.
What acts as a far more effective circumstance for generating compassion and what, in fact, rouses us from our comfortable meditation seat is actually seeing or hearing others – encountering others directly, not just conceptually in our imagination.
As soon as I wake up I pay homage to the Buddha, and I try to prepare my mind to be more altruistic, more compassionate, during the day to come so I can be of benefit to beings. Then I do physical exersice – I walk on a treadmill.
Do something that scares you every day. You have nothing to lose but fear itself.
Not only can I not recall my experiences in my previous lives, sometimes I can’t even remember what I did yesterday.
Determination, with an optimistic attitude, is the key to success.
We can wake ourselves up, discover in ourselves an energy that was hidden there, and act with more clarity, more force.
So long as we are under the control of disturbing emotions, real happiness is hard to find.
Developing love and compassion and reducing anger and spite is a universal activity which requires no faith in any religion whatsoever.
If a harmonious relationship is established amongst societies and religious beliefs in today’s multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural world, then it will surely set a very good example for others.
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.
Happiness that depends mainly on physical pleasure is unstable; one day it’s there, the next day it may not be.