All quotes from
The Dalai Lama's book
Our life
depends on others so much that at the root of our existence there is a
fundamental need for love. That is why
it is good to cultivate an authentic sense of our responsibility and a sincere
concern for the welfare of others.
True
compassion does not stem from the pleasure of feeling close to one person or
another, but from the conviction that other people are just like me and want
not to suffer but to be happy, and from a commitment to help them overcome what
causes them to suffer. I must realize
that I can help them suffer less. That
is true, well thought-out compassion.
You can
see the positive side of even the worst of tragedies if you adopt a holistic
perspective. If you take the negative as
absolute and definitive, however, you increase your worries and anxiety.
The past
is not a reality; its just a concept.
The future corresponds to projections, anticipations that do not have
any reality either.
The
present is that elusive moment between what no longer exists and what has not
yet happened.
Each
instant of consciousness stems from a previous instant of consciousness.
What we
call a person is a concept attached to a stream of consciousness. This stream, just like the person, is without
beginning or end.
Consciousness
represents a faculty of clarity and luminosity that allows us to perceive and
know phenomena by direct apprehension.
We can do
without religion, but not without spirituality.
Spirituality,
when understood as the development of fundamental human values, has every
chance to improve the life of our communities.
The
practice of nonviolence applies not just to human beings but to all sentient
beings. Everything that is animate
possesses consciousness. Wherever there
is consciousness, there are feelings like pain, pleasure, and joy. No sentient being wants to suffer.
