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Dalai Lama XIV Quotes

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Famous Dalai Lama XIV Quotes

“There is no realm in samsara where we have not taken birth, no samsaric pleasure we have not enjoyed, and no form of life we have not known over our countless stream of previous lives. Yet even now as humans most of us are like blind animals, unable to discern the patterns of life unfolding within us, leaving spiritual aims behind and chasing only the biological and emotional needs of the senses. Totally unaware of the spiritual methods that produce everlasting joy, we admire the ignoble and have distaste for the noble.”

HumanityBuddhismReincarnationRebirthDharmaDalai Lama
Book:Refining Gold: Stages in Buddhist Contemplative Practice
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“If the enemy had no intention of harming us, then we would not classify that person as an enemy... It is his or her very intention of harming us which makes that person an enemy and because of that the enemy provides us with an opportunity to practice tolerance and patience. Therefore an enemy is indeed a precious teacher.”

LovePhilosophyWisdomSpiritualityLeadershipPsychologyBuddhismAnger Management
Book:The Book of Compassion
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“I asked the Dalai Lama what it was like to wake up with joy, and he shared his experience each morning. 'I think if you are an intensely religious believer, as soon as you wake up, you thank God for another day. And you try to do God’s will. For a nontheist like myself, but who is a Buddhist, as soon as I wake up, I remember Buddha’s teaching: the importance of kindness and compassion, wishing something good for others, or at least to reduce their suffering. Then I remember that everything is interrelated, the teaching of interdependence. So then I set my intention for the day: that this day should be meaningful. Meaningful means, if possible, serve and help others. If not possible, then at least not to harm others. That’s a meaningful day.”

SufferingCompassionKindnessMorningBuddhismIntentionServiceInterdependence
Book:The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World
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“Through training our minds we can become more peaceful. This will give us greater opportunities for creating the peaceful families and human communities that are the foundation of world peace. With inner strength, we can face problems on the familial, societal and even global levels in a more realistic way. Non-violence does not mean passivity. We need to solve problems through dialogue in a spirit of reconciliation. This is the real meaning of non-violence and the source of world peace. This approach can also be very useful in ecology. We always hear about a better environment, world peace, non-violence and so forth, but such goals are not achieved through the application of regulations or United Nations resolutions; it takes individual transformation. Once we have developed a peaceful society in which problems are negotiated through dialogue, we can seriously think about demilitarization—first on the national level; then on the regional level; and finally, on the global level. However, it will be very difficult to achieve these things unless individuals themselves undergo a change within their own minds.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningInner PeaceWorld PeaceSpiritual TransformationThe Path Of The BodhisattvaMindtraining
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“If a person shows anger to you, and you show anger in return, the result is disaster. If you nurse hatred, you will never be happy, even in the lap of luxury. By contrast, if you control your anger and show its opposite - love, compassion, tolerance, and patience - then not only do you remain in peace, but gradually the anger of others also will diminish.”

LovePeaceCompassionBuddhismPatienceToleranceBuddhist
Book:How to Be Compassionate: A Handbook for Creating Inner Peace and a Happier World
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“You should understand the whole purpose of listening to teachings, taking teachings and studying them is to put them into practice. What you know should be put into practice immediately; you can thus derive the benefit of having some transformation within your mind. Even though it might be a very minor effort, a very small practice just leaving imprints within your mind, still you must think that it is worthwhile to do. Otherwise your knowledge of dharma will be quite fruitless.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentTransformationAwakeningSpiritual PracticeMindtraining
Book:Path to Bliss: A Practical Guide to Stages of Meditation
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“It is important to be able to differentiate between two levels of understanding. One is the superficial, intellectual level, where on the basis of reading, studying or listening to teachings, we distinguish between negative and positive qualities of mind and recognize their nature and origin. The other is the deeper, experiential level, where we actually cultivate and generate positive qualities within ourselves. Although it can be challenging to develop an intellectual understanding of certain topics, it is generally easier because it can be cultivated merely by reading texts or listening to teachings. Experiential understanding is far more difficult to develop, since it comes about only as a result of sustained practice. At the experiential level, your understanding is also accompanied by a strong component of feeling; your understanding is essentially a felt experience.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningDharmaSpiritual TransformationThe Path Of The BodhisattvaMindtraining
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“The Tibetan term for Dharma is chö, which has the literal connotation of “changing,” or “bringing about transformation.” When we talk about transforming the mind, we are referring to the task of diminishing the force of destructive thoughts and emotions while developing the force of those that are constructive and beneficial. In this way, through the practice of Dharma, we transform our undisciplined mind into one that is disciplined.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningDharmaSpiritual TransformationThe Path Of The BodhisattvaMindtraining
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“When we speak about enlightenment and the path leading to it, we are naturally speaking about a quality, or state, of mind. In the final analysis, enlightenment is nothing other than a perfected state of mind. Enlightenment should not be understood as some kind of physical location or rank or status that is conferred upon us. It is the state of mind where all negativities and limitations have been purified, and all potentials of positive qualities fully perfected and realized. Since the ultimate objective is a state of mind, the methods and paths by which it is attained must also be states of mind. Enlightenment cannot be attained by external means, only through an internal process. As we develop and improve our states of mind, our knowledge, wisdom and realization gradually increase, culminating in our attainment of enlightenment.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningSpiritual TransformationThe Path Of The BodhisattvaMindtraining
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“Things are highly interdependent. The very concepts of “we” and “they” are becoming irrelevant. War is out of date because our neighbors are part of ourselves. We see this in economic, educational and environmental issues. Although we may have some ideological differences or other conflicts with our neighbor, economically and environmentally we share essentially the same country, and destroying our neighbor is destroying ourselves. It’s foolish.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningOnenessInterdependenceGlobal CitizenshipOneness Of Humanity
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“The significance of meditating on impermanence and death is not just to terrify yourself; there is no point in simply making yourself afraid of death. The purpose of meditating on impermanence and death is to remind you of the preciousness of the opportunities that exist for you in life as a human being. Reminding yourself that death is inevitable, its time unpredictable and when it happens only spiritual practice is of benefit gives you a sense of urgency and enables you to truly appreciate the value of your human existence and your potential to fulfill the highest of spiritual aspirations. If you can develop this profound appreciation, you will treat every single day as extremely precious.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningDeath QuotesMemento MoriThe Path Of The Bodhisattva
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“What lies at the root of our unenlightened existence is our fundamental misconception of the ultimate nature of reality. Therefore, by cultivating correct insight into true nature of reality, we begin the process of undoing unenlightened existence and set in motion the process of liberation. Samsara and nirvana are distinguished on the basis of whether we’re in a state of ignorance or wisdom. As the Tibetan masters say, when we’re ignorant, we’re in samsara; when we develop wisdom, we’re liberated. The ultimate antidote for eliminating fundamental ignorance is the wisdom realizing emptiness. It is this emptiness of mind that is the final nirvana.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningThe Path Of The BodhisattvaNirvana And Samsara
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“One of the antidotes to emotional afflictions is meditation on emptiness. As we deepen our experience of emptiness, we get a powerful surge of emotion, which itself acts to counter the negative, or afflictive, emotions. We also find in Buddhist practice specific antidotes to specific problems. For example, we meditate on loving kindness to counter hatred and hostility, and on impermanence to counter strong attachment. In other words, the emotion of love is generated as an antidote to anger and the experience of impermanence as an antidote to attachment.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningAttachmentImpermanenceThe Path Of The BodhisattvaMeditation On Emptiness
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“Reflect upon the wonderful enlightened qualities of the buddhas, particularly those of the historical Buddha. We all know that Shakyamuni Buddha was not a fully enlightened being right from the start. Initially, he was just like us—an ordinary being struggling on the path, with the natural weaknesses and limitations that we all have. What distinguishes the Buddha from us, however, is that he took the practice of bodhicitta to heart. He then embarked upon the path and, as a result of his efforts, eventually attained the fully enlightened state.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningDharmaSpiritual TransformationThe Path Of The BodhisattvaBodhicittaShakyamuni Buddha
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“Buddhism originated from its founding teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha, who gave 84,000 forms of teaching. Lam-rim means “stages of the path to enlightenment.” It was the great Indian master, Atisha, who wrote the first lam-rim text, A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, which condenses all 84,000 teachings into a single body of work. Atisha wrote this text in Tibet at the request of a Tibetan king. He then sent the text to India, where all the great realized scholars and mahasiddhas received it with praise and appreciation. It must be due to the good fortune and merit of the Tibetan people, they said, that Atisha had composed such a wonderful text.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningThe Path Of The BodhisattvaLam RimAtisha
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“In Buddhism, we talk about cultivating three types of wisdom; those arising through listening to teachings, contemplating their meaning and meditating on the ascertained meaning. These three types of wisdom have to arise sequentially in our mind stream. Through listening to teachings, we gain understanding; through contemplation, we deepen this understanding; through meditation, we apply the teachings to ourselves—in other words, we engage in the practice. We are very fortunate to have this wonderful human life and the opportunity to study and practice these teachings. We should make our best efforts, therefore, to follow the Dharma so that we will experience the benefits not only in this lifetime but also in many future lifetimes—and not just for ourselves but for other sentient beings as well.”

WisdomMeditationBuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningContemplationDharmaThe Path Of The Bodhisattva
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“When I use the word “spiritual,” I don’t necessarily mean religious faith. It is quite obvious that there are two levels of spirituality—spirituality with religious faith and that without. Obviously, an individual can manage to lead a meaningful life without religious faith, but you can’t be a happy person without the spirituality of basic human values. As long as we remain human, there is no way that we can neglect this.”

HappinessSpiritualityBuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningMeaningful LifeThe Path Of The BodhisattvaDalai LamaUniversal Human Values
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“As a Buddhist monk, I believe that there is a next life. The Buddhist practice of tantra, in particular, contains many unique preparations for death and it is very important for practitioners to familiarize ourselves with them so that we can actualize these practices when we die. Therefore, in my daily practice, I meditate on my own death and rebirth repeatedly. This is supposed to prepare me for death, but I’m still not sure whether or not I’ll be equipped to handle it when it actually comes. Sometimes I feel that when it does, I might start getting excited about whether or not I’ll be able to implement these practices effectively.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningLife And DeathThe Path Of The BodhisattvaPreparation For Death
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“I take refuge until I am enlightened In the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. By the positive potential I generate Through studying these teachings, May I attain buddhahood for the benefit of all.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningDharmaBuddhaThe Path Of The BodhisattvaTaking Refuge
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“When you cultivate deeply such powerful sentiments as those articulated in Shantideva’s prayer... For as long as space exists, For as long as sentient beings remain, Until then, may I too remain And dispel the miseries of the world, … time is totally irrelevant; you are thinking in terms of infinity.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningThe Path Of The BodhisattvaBodhisattva VowShantideva
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“There are two kinds of aspiration in the realization of bodhicitta: the aspiration concerned for the welfare of all sentient beings and the aspiration to attain buddhahood for their sake. The spontaneous intention to attain buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings occurs when these two aspirations are complete. This is the realization of bodhicitta, the mind of enlightenment. At this point, the student has become a practitioner of the highest capacity and all activities and practices motivated by bodhicitta are those of the Greater Vehicle, the Mahayana.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningThe Path Of The BodhisattvaBodhicittaMahayanaThe Mind Of Enlightenment
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“The moment you have realized bodhicitta, you have become a Mahayana practitioner and are on the path to complete enlightenment but the moment your bodhicitta degenerates, you fall outside the fold of the bodhisattvas. Without bodhicitta, no matter how advanced you are in other practices—even if you have a direct realization of emptiness or have attained nirvana—nothing you do becomes the conduct of a bodhisattva or the cause of enlightenment.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningThe Path Of The BodhisattvaBodhicittaMahayana
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“Bodhisattvas are referred to as enlightened “heroes” or “warriors.” They are highly altruistic beings who have the wisdom to realize that by dedicating themselves to the welfare of other sentient beings, the fulfillment of their own self-interest comes automatically as a by-product.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningThe Path Of The BodhisattvaSpiritual Warrior
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“The highest perfection of altruism, the ultimate altruism, is bodhicitta complemented by wisdom. Bodhicitta—the aspiration to bring about the welfare of all sentient beings and to attain buddhahood for their sake—is really the distilled essence, the squeezed juice, of all the Buddha’s teachings, because ultimately, the Buddha’s intention is to lead all sentient beings to perfect enlightenment, complete omniscience. Since it is bodhicitta that determines whether or not our practice becomes the path to enlightenment, bodhicitta is truly the heart essence of all the teachings of the Buddha.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningThe Path Of The BodhisattvaBodhicitta
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“With the wish to free all beings I shall always go for refuge To Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Until I reach full enlightenment, Inspired by wisdom and compassion, Today, in the Buddha’s presence, I generate the mind of full awakening For the benefit of all sentient beings. As long as space remains As long as sentient beings remain Until then may I too remain And dispel the miseries of the world.”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningThe Path Of The Bodhisattva
Book:Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Atisha Dipamkara Shrijnana's A Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment and Lama Je Tsong Khapa's Lines of Experience
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“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.”

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Book:The Art of Happiness
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