The Dalai Lama is a wisdom lineage as well as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. The true meaning of life, paradoxes of time, friendship, love, strength, weakness, landmarks.
The true meaning of life
We are guests on this planet. We've been here for 90 or 100 years, maybe longer. During this time, we must try to do something good, something useful. If you help others to become happy, you will discover the true purpose of life, its true meaning.
Precious human life
Every morning, when you wake up, start with the thoughts: “Today I was lucky - I woke up. I am alive, I have this precious human life, and I will not waste it. I will direct all my energy to inner development, To open my heart to others And achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I will only cherish good thoughts for others. I will not get angry or think bad things about them. With all my might I will be of benefit to others."
Never give up
Whatever happens - never give up! Develop your heart. Too much energy in your country is spent on developing the mind, not the heart. Develop your heart, be compassionate not only to your friends, but to everyone. Be compassionate, work for peace in your heart and in the whole world. Work for peace and I will say it again: never give up. No matter what happens around you, no matter what happened to you - never give up!
The paradox of our time
Our houses are getting bigger and families are getting smaller. We have more amenities, but less time. More degrees, but less common sense. More knowledge, but less judgment. More specialists, but even more problems. More medicine, less health. We have come a long way to the moon and back, but it is difficult for us to cross the street to meet a new neighbor. We have created many computers to store and copy huge amounts of information, but we have become less communicating with each other. We won in quantity but lost in quality. This is the time for fast food, but slow absorption. People of high stature, but low morals. High income, but petty relationships. This is the time when there is so much outside the window, but nothing in the room!
Love and kindness
From the first moment of birth, we find ourselves under the wing of the care and kindness of our parents. Then, in our declining years, when sickness and old age approach us, we again give ourselves over to the mercy of others. If at the beginning and end of our lives we rely so much on the mercy of other beings, how can it happen that in the middle we deny them kindness?
Spiritual practice
It is necessary to start spiritual practice with such an inner aspiration, with such an attitude as a child who is keen on sports or games. The child, completely and completely absorbed in the game, experiences such delight that he can not get enough of it. This should be the attitude of your mind when you endeavor to practice the Dharma.
Buddha's teachings
When you listen to the Teaching, your mind turns to faith and devotion, is filled with joy and becomes stable. By listening to the Teaching, you cultivate wisdom and eliminate ignorance. Therefore, listen to the Teaching, even if it costs you your life. Listen to the Teaching, for it is like a torch that dissipates the darkness of ignorance. If, listening to the Teaching, you are able to enrich your mental continuum, then no one will take this wealth away from you. This wealth is the highest possible.
Correct landmarks
If you choose someone who is inferior to you in their merits as a reference point, this will lead you to decline. If he becomes one whose merits are comparable to yours, then you will remain at the same level. But if you decide to rely on a person who surpasses you in his merits, then this will help you achieve a higher state.
Don't lose hope
When at some point in our lives we are confronted with a real tragedy - and this can happen to any of us - we can react in two ways. We can simply lose hope, allow ourselves to fall into despair, turn to alcohol, drugs, surrender to endless longing. Or we can wake ourselves up, open up the energy that was hidden there, deeply, and begin to act with even greater clarity, with even greater strength.
Two important reminders
In this ever-changing world, there are two important things to keep in mind. The first is introspection; we must revise our attitude towards others over and over again and check whether we are doing the right thing. Before you point your finger at another, you need to look inside yourself. Second, we must be ready to admit our mistakes and correct them.
Spiritual Practices
The people who are most suitable for spiritual practice are people who are not only intellectually gifted, but also have one-pointed faith and devotion, and are certainly wise. Such people are most receptive to spiritual practice. In second place are those who may not boast of high intellectual abilities, but who have a solid foundation of faith as a stone. Those who fall into the third category are the least fortunate. These people are extremely developed intellectually, but constantly torn apart by doubts and skepticism. They are smart, but every now and then they fall for the bait of skepticism and internal hesitation and cannot find a foothold in any way. Such people are the least susceptible.
Precious moments
Try to develop the deepest conviction that your current human body has tremendous potential and that you should not waste a minute while you have it. Not using this precious life properly, but just wasting it is almost tantamount to ingesting poison, fully aware of the consequences of such an act. It is fundamentally wrong that people become desperate because of the loss of money, and, wasting precious moments of their lives, do not experience the slightest remorse.
Phantom pleasures
The modern world is so mired in conflict and suffering that everyone now dreams of peace and happiness; this dream, unfortunately, carries people away in pursuit of illusory pleasures. But still there are enlightened people who, not finding satisfaction in what is usually presented to us by sight and other senses, turn to deep reflection and the search for true happiness. I think this search for truth will continue and gain new strength with the growth of material progress.
Cultivate patience
If we want to cultivate patience, then we need someone who would wholeheartedly want to harm us. Such people open up true opportunities for the practice of patience. They test our inner strength, as no guru will be able to test it. In general, patience protects us from discouragement and despair.
Strength and weakness
Many people believe that being patient in the moment of defeat is a sign of weakness. In my opinion, this is a mistake. This anger is a sign of weakness, while patience is a sign of strength. If a person defends his point of view on the basis of convincing arguments, he maintains self-confidence and sometimes even smiles, proving his case. If his arguments are unfounded, and he is about to hit his face in the dirt, then he becomes enraged, loses control and begins to talk nonsense. People rarely get angry if they are sure of what they are doing. Anger usually catches up with us in moments of confusion and confusion.
Reliance on a spiritual teacher
The advantage of relying on a spiritual teacher is that even if you have performed an action that should entail rebirth in the lower worlds, the result of this action can still be experienced by you in this life in the form of minor suffering or minor problems. Or even you can experience it in a dream and thus negate the destructive effects of your negative actions.
Meditation
Meditation reveals to us - when we slowly plunge into ourselves - that this feeling of inner peace already lives in us. We all sincerely desire it, although often it turns out to be hidden, disguised, inaccessible. If we carefully consider human nature, we will find in it kindness, benevolence, a desire to help. And it seems to me that today the desire for harmony is growing, the desire to live together in peace and peace is becoming stronger and more widespread.
Nonviolence
Judging by the outward signs alone, it is difficult to determine whether a particular action is a manifestation of violence or non-violence. In reality, it all depends on the motivation behind this action. If this motivation is negative, then even on a superficial level the action seems very soft and kind, on a deeper level it will still be a manifestation of violence. Conversely, harsh actions and harsh words spoken with sincere and benevolent motivation are inherently non-violent. In other words, violence is destructive energy. Nonviolence is constructive.
Spiritual revolution
My call for a spiritual revolution is not a call for a religious revolution. I do not call everyone to become "out of this world" and even more so - to something magical and mysterious. Rather, it is a call for a radical change in orientation, when, leaving our usual concern only with our own well-being, we begin to show concern for a larger community of beings, and in our behavior we take into account the interests of others on an equal basis with our own.
Selfishness Doesn't Bring Happiness
Self-centeredness makes us extremely tense. We consider ourselves extremely important, and our main desire is the pursuit of our own happiness, so that everything goes well for us personally. Yet we do not know how to achieve this. In fact, self-centered actions never bring us happiness.
Ability to forgive
It would be much more constructive if people tried to understand their so-called "enemies". Trying to understand is much more useful than just picking up a stone and throwing it at the object of your anger. This is especially true if you are provoked in every possible way. For the greatest hostility also contains the greatest potential for doing good both for oneself and for others.
friendship
We are connected by true friendship, if it is based on a true human feeling - a feeling of closeness, in which there is a feeling of inner connection with another and the desire to share his joy and pain. I would call such a friendship genuine, because it is not influenced by the rise or fall of material well-being, status and influence. It is determined by whether two people are connected by love and affectionate affection. True friendship is built on love and does not depend on position in society. Therefore, the more you care about the well-being and respect for the rights of others, the more reason you have to call you a true friend. The more openness and sincerity you have, the more benefit you will ultimately gain. If you forget about others and you do not care about their fate, then in the end you yourself will suffer losses.
Peace on earth
We cannot build peace on Earth if we do not first build it in our soul … In our heart. If there is an atmosphere of hatred, anger, competition and violence, long-term peace is not possible. These negative and destructive emotions must be overcome by the power of compassion, love, altruism, which are the basis of the Buddha's Teachings.
Selfishness
The importance of compassion can also be understood through logical thinking. If I help another and take care of him, then it will be useful for me myself. If I harm others, I will ultimately suffer myself. I often say, half in jest, half seriously, that if we really want to be selfish, then our selfishness must be reasonable, not stupid. By using our mental faculties, we can develop the correct worldview. If you think carefully, you can come to a clear understanding of how to fulfill your own goals without going beyond the compassionate lifestyle.
Variety of religions
All religions have a single root - boundless compassion. They all emphasize human cultivation, love and respect for others, and compassion for the torment of other beings. And since love is of decisive importance in any religion, then we can say that love is a universal religion. However, in different traditions there is a wide variety of techniques and methods for developing such love, and this is how they differ from each other.
There will hardly ever be one single philosophy or one single religion. Since there are so many different types of people with different tendencies and inclinations, then the existence of different religions is quite justified. In fact, having so many different descriptions of the spiritual path testifies to the richness of religion.
Universal responsibility
I believe that we must consciously strengthen our sense of Universal responsibility. We must learn to work not only for the sake of our individual self, family or state, but for the good of all mankind.
Patience
A person with a huge stock of patience and tolerance goes through life with a special share of calmness and serenity. Such a person is not only happy and emotionally balanced, but he is also healthier and less susceptible to disease. He has a strong will, a good appetite, and it is easier for him to fall asleep, because his conscience is clear.
