Topic: Dalai Lama quotes

[erik]

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion.

With realization of one's own potential and self-confidence in one's ability, one can build a better world.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

[erik]

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, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It is the ultimate source of success in life.

[Michael]

you are onto something there my boy - echoes of the muse

[erik]

According to my own experience, self-confidence is very important.  That sort of confidence is not a blind one; it is an awareness of ones own potential.  On that basis, human beings can transform themselves by increasing the good qualities and reducing the negative qualities.

[erik]

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

[erik]

We depend on others from the moment we are conceived.  The happiness and the future of our world, all the facilities we have, the simplest object that we use, our very survival from day to day, all result from the efforts of many people.  Prayer and other spiritual practices also have a definite effect, but it is mainly human activity that shapes the world.

[erik]

I am interested not in converting other people to Buddhism but in how we Buddhists can contribute to human society, according to our own ideas. I believe that other religious faiths also think in a similar way, seeking to contribute to the common aim....

[erik]

Let me begin by explaining what we mean by blessing when we talk about a lama's blessing or the blessing of the Dharma in the Buddhist context. Blessing must arise from within your own mind. It is not something that comes from outside, even though we talk about a lama's blessing or the blessing of the Three Objects of Refuge. When the positive qualities of your mind increase and negativities decrease, that is what blessing means. The Tibetan word for blessing can be broken into two parts--byin means "magnificent potential," and rlab means "to transform." So byin rlab means transforming into magnificent potential. Therefore, blessing refers to the development of virtuous qualities that you did not previously have and the improvement of those good qualities that you have already developed. It also means decreasing the defilements of the mind that obstruct the generation of wholesome qualities. So actual blessing is received when the mind's virtuous attributes gain strength and its defective characteristics weaken or deteriorate.

[Firestarter]

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

[erik]

A balanced and skillful approach to life, taking care to avoid extremes, becomes a very important factor in conducting one's everyday existence. It is important in all aspects of life. For instance, in planting a sapling of a plant or a tree, at its very early stage you have to be very skillful and gentle. Too much moisture will destroy it, too much sunlight will destroy it. Too little will also destroy it. So what you need is a very balanced environment where the sapling can have a healthy growth. Or, for a person's physical health, too much or too little of any one thing can have destructive effects. For example, too much protein I think is bad, and too little is bad.

This gentle and skillful approach, taking care to avoid extremes, applies to healthy mental and emotional growth as well.

[Jahn]

The Tibetan word for blessing can be broken into two parts--byin means "magnificent potential," and rlab means "to transform."

I like that statement from Tibet - because it is completely in line with the Toltec teachings of Kris Raphael, where the students are supposed to acheive and reach their full potential after completed the Mastery of Transformation.

[Jahn]

A balanced and skillful approach to life, taking care to avoid extremes, becomes a very important factor in conducting one's everyday existence. It is important in all aspects of life. For instance, in planting a sapling of a plant or a tree, at its very early stage you have to be very skillful and gentle. Too much moisture will destroy it, too much sunlight will destroy it. Too little will also destroy it. So what you need is a very balanced environment where the sapling can have a healthy growth. Or, for a person's physical health, too much or too little of any one thing can have destructive effects. For example, too much protein I think is bad, and too little is bad.

This gentle and skillful approach, taking care to avoid extremes, applies to healthy mental and emotional growth as well.

Very good, this is the mantra from Macrobiotics repeated. Balance in every part. Yin and Yang in harmony through out the cycle, what a good thing!

[Jahn]

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

Of course not, because our outer world is to a large extent a reflection of our selves. And when we are in balance we can face and deal with the outer world from a point of harmony. A point that has its root within us, a point that are a energy link to our Dreamer and our Source.

[Firestarter]

"The mind's own basic nature is ultimately neutral.  It can be influenced by
negative as well as by positive emotions.  Take, for instance, those who have a short tempter.  When I was young I was quite short-tempered.  However, the mood never lasted for twenty-four hours.  If negative emotions are in the very nature of our mind, then as long as the mind is functioning the anger must remain. That, however is not the case.  Similarly, positive emotions are also not in the nature of the mind.  The mind is something neutral, reflecting all sorts of different experiences or phenomena." ~HHDL

[Firestarter]

Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life.

Dalai Lama