Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Love is the real nuclear bomb that destroys all our enemies, because when we love all living beings, we have no enemies.Collection: Real
All the happiness there is in the world arises from wishing others to be happy.Collection: Wish
Developing compassion and wisdom and helping those in need is the true meaning of life.Collection: Compassion
When things go wrong in our life and we encounter difficult situations, we tend to regard the situation itself as our problem, but in reality whatever problems we experience come from the side of the mind. If we were to respond to difficult situations with a positive or peaceful mind they would not be problems for us; indeed, we may even come to regard them as challenges or opportunities for growth and development. Problems arise only if we respond to difficulties with a negative state of mind. Therefore, if we want to be free from problems, we must transform our mind.Collection: Positive
When the turbulence of distracting thoughts subside and our mind becomes still, a deep happiness and contentment naturally arises from within.Collection: Happy
Patience is a mind that is able to accept fully and happily, whatever occurs. It is much more than just gritting our teeth and putting up with things. Being patient means to welcome wholeheartedly whatever arises, having given up the idea that things should be other than what they are.Collection: Mean
Without inner peace, outer peace is impossible. We all wish for world peace, but world peace will never be acheived unless we first establish peace within our own minds. We can send so-called 'peacekeeping forces' into areas of conflict, but peace cannot be oppossed from the outside with guns. Only by creating peace within our own mind and helping others to do the same can we hope to achieve peace in this world.Collection: Peace
Everything we have and everything we enjoy, including our very life, is due to the kindness of others. In fact, every happiness there is in the world arises as a result of others' kindness.Collection: Kindness
Happiness is a state of mind, so the real source of happiness must lie within the mind, not in external conditions.Collection: Real
In reality, our mind is the creator of all the things we experience.Collection: Reality
Only by creating peace within our own mind and helping others to do the same can we hope to achieve peace in this world.Collection: Helping Others
The path to enlightenment is really very simple - all we need to do is stop cherishing ourself and learn to cherish others. All other spiritual realisations will naturally follow from this.Collection: Spiritual
We need to keep a constant watch over our mind and learn to distinguish between the beneficial and harmful thoughts that are arising moment by moment. Those who are able to do this are truly wise.Collection: Wise
We all wish for world peace, but world peace will never be achieved unless we first establish peace within our own minds.Collection: Yoga
If we transform our ordinary mind into love and compassion we will naturally act in a positive way.Collection: Compassion
We are all interconnected in a web of kindness from which it is impossible to separate ourself.Collection: Kindness
When we understand clearly that inner peace is the real source of happiness, and how, through spiritual practice, we can experience progressively deeper levels of inner peace, we will develop tremendous enthusiasm to practiceCollection: Inspirational
The moment we let go of our obsessive concern for our own welfare, our mind naturally relaxes and becomes lighter.Collection: Letting Go
The cause of happiness and the solution to our problems do not lie in knowledge of material things. Happiness and suffering are states of mind, and so their main causes cannot be found outside the mind. If we want to be truly happy and free from suffering, we must learn how to control our mind.Collection: Lying
Listening is a lamp that dispels the darkness of ignorance.Collection: Ignorance
Since the real purpose of meditation is to increase our capacity to help others, taking time each day to meditate is not selfish. We have to manage our time and energy in such a way that we can be of maximum benefit to others, and to do this we need time alone to recover our strength, collect our thoughts, and see things in perspectiveCollection: Strength
Happiness and suffering are states of mind, and so their main causes cannot be found outside the mind.Collection: Mind
Without inner peace, outer peace is impossible.Collection: Yoga
Anger is one of the most common and destructive delusions, and it afflicts our mind almost every day. To solve the problem of anger, we first need to recognize the anger within our mind, acknowledge how it harms both ourself and others, and appreciate the benefits of being patient in the face of difficulties.Collection: Appreciate
Our mental attitude transforms a situation into either a problem or an opportunity.Collection: Attitude
When we want a cup of tea our main wish is to drink tea, but to fulfill this wish we naturally develop the secondary wish to find a cup. In a similar way, the main wish of those who have great compassion is to protect all living beings from their suffering, but to fulfill this wish they know they must first attain Buddhahood themselves and so they naturally develop the secondary wish to attain enlightenment.Collection: Compassion
Right now we have obtained a human rebirth and have the opportunity to attain enlightenment through Dharma practice, so if we waste this precious opportunity in meaningless activities there is no greater loss and no greater foolishness.Collection: Loss
In general, 'Buddha' means 'Awakened One', someone who has awakened from the sleep of ignorance and sees things as they really are. A Buddha is a person who is completely free from all faults and mental obstructions. There are many people who have become Buddhas in the past, and many people will become Buddhas in the future.Collection: Ignorance
In recent years our knowledge of modern technology has increased considerably, and as a result we have witnessed remarkable material progress, but there has not been a corresponding increase in human happiness. There is no less suffering in the world today, and there are no fewer problems. Indeed, it might be said that there are now more problems and greater dangers than ever before.Collection: Happiness
I have not met one living being that has not been the mother of all the rest.Collection: Mother
Just as eagles soar through the vast expanse of the sky without meeting any obstructions, needing only minimal effort to maintain their flight, so advanced meditators concentrating on emptiness can meditate on emptiness for a long time with little effort. Their minds soar through space-like emptiness, undistracted by any other phenomenon. When we meditate on emptiness we should try to emulate these meditators.Collection: Eagles
Just as full sunlight completely dispels all darkness but even a few rays provide a measure of light, so, if we complete the practice of training the mind, we will totally dispel the darkness of our ignorance, but if we engage in only some parts of the practice, this will still help to reduce our ignorance and self-cherishing .Collection: Ignorance
Without improving our mind there is no way to solve our human problems.Collection: Mind
A Temple is one of the best ways of benefiting other living beings - it is the best form of public service.Collection: Way
We underestimate the value of patience. It is possible that people might sometimes interrupt our meditation sessions or Dharma study, but they can never take away our opportunity to train in inner virtues such as patience. It is this mental training, rather than outer virtuous activities, that is the essence of Dharma practice.Collection: Opportunity
Today we can see many different forms of Buddhism, such as Zen and Theravada Buddhism. All these different aspects are practices of Buddha's teachings, and all are equally precious; they are just different presentations.Collection: Teaching
A practice that is suitable for one person is not necessarily suitable for someone else, and a practice that is appropriate for one person at one time is not necessarily appropriate for that same person at another time. Buddha did not expect us to put all his teachings into practice right away--they are intended for a great variety of practitioners of different levels and dispositions.Collection: Teaching
Whenever anyone, Buddhist or not, sees a Temple or an image of Buddha they receive blessings.Collection: Buddhist
If everyone practiced cherishing others, many of the major problems of the world would be solved in a few years.Collection: Years
Whenever we practise meditation, whether or not our meditation is clear, we are performing a virtuous mental action that is a cause of our future happiness and peace of mind.Collection: Meditation
We need others for our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Without others we are nothing. Our sense that we are an island, an independent, self-sufficient individual, bears no relation to reality. It is closer to the truth to picture ourself as a cell in the vast body of life, distinct yet intimately bound up with all living beings. We cannot exist without others, and they in turn are affected by everything we do. The idea that it is possible to secure our own welfare while neglecting the welfare of others, or even at the expense of others, is completely unrealistic.Collection: Spiritual
The more we want certain situations, the more we find ourself stuck in situations we do not want.Collection: Want
Since inner peace is the source of all happiness, we can see how important meditation is.Collection: Meditation
Normally we divide the external world into that which we consider to be good or valuable, bad or worthless, or neither. Most of the time these discriminations are incorrect or have little meaning. For example, our habitual way of categorizing people as friends, enemies, and strangers depending on how they make us feel is both incorrect and a great obstacle to developing impartial love for all living beings. Rather than holding so tightly to our discriminations of the external world, it would be much more beneficial if we learned to discriminate between valuable and worthless states of mind.Collection: People
It is through our anger and hatred that we transform people into enemies.Collection: People
One of the most common ways of not acknowledging our faults is to blame others.Collection: Way
Buddha's teachings are scientific methods to solve the problems of all living beings permanently.Collection: Teaching
Learning to cherish others is the best solution to our daily problems, and it is the source of all our future happiness and good fortune.Collection: Future Happiness
When a jealous person sees signs of other people's success and good fortune, his heart is pierced with envy. But someone who has learned to rejoice in the good fortune of others experiences only happiness. Seeing another person's beautiful house or attractive partner immediately makes him happy - the fact that they are not his own is irrelevant.Collection: Beautiful
The solution to all the problems of daily life is to cherish others.Collection: Daily Life