Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama - Practice Quotes

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Awareness of death is the very bedrock of the entire path. Until you have developed this awareness, all other practices are obstructed.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
It is a wonderful thing if one can use one's place of work as a place of spiritual practice as well.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
For a person who cherishes compassion and love, the practice of tolerance is essential, and for that, and enemy is indispinsable. So we should be grateful to our enemies, for it is they who can best help us to develop a tranquil mind.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
To the extent that our experience of suffering reminds us of what everyone else also endures, it serves as a powerful inspiration to practice compassion and avoid causing others pain. And to the extent that suffering awakens our empathy and causes us to connect with others, it serves as the basis of compassion and love.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Spiritual practice... involves, on the one hand, acting out of concern for others' well-being. On the other, it entails transforming ourselves so that we become more readily disposed to do so.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
What is the relationship between spirituality and ethical practice? Since love and compassion and similar qualities all, by definition, presume some level of concern for others' well-being, they presume ethical restraint. We cannot be loving and compassionate unless at the same time we curb our own harmful impulses and desires.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
In the past, the respect people had for religion meant that ethical practice was maintained through a majority following one religion or another. But this is no longer the case. We must therefore find some other way of establishing basic ethical principles.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
In the Buddha's life story we see the three stages of practice: Morality comes first, then concentrated meditation, and then wisdom. And we see that the path takes time.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
If you practice in accord with your individual capacity, little by little you will find more pleasure and joy in it. As you gain inner strength, your positive actions will gain in profundity and scope.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
I try to treat whoever I meet as an old friend. This gives me a genuine feeling of happiness. It is the practice of compassion.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
My earnest request is that you practice love and kindness whether you believe in a religion or not

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
To develop patience, you need someone who willfully hurts you. Such people give us real opportunities to practice tolerance. They test our inner strength in a way that even our guru cannot. Basically, patience protects us from being discouraged.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
As Buddhists, while we practice our own teaching, we must respect other faiths, Christianity, Judaism and so forth. We must recognize and appreciate their contributions over many past centuries to human society, and at this time we must strive to make common effort to serve humankind.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
No matter what activity or practice we are pursuing, there isn't anything that isn't made easier through constant familiarity and training (I think you can apply this to soccer as well)

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Love is a simple practice yet it is very beneficial for the individual who practices it as well as for the community in which he lives, for the nation, and for the whole world

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
To be aware of a single shortcoming within oneself is more useful than to be aware of a thousand in somebody else. Rather than speaking badly about people and in ways that will produce friction and unrest in their lives, we should practice a purer perception of them, and when we speak of others, speak of their good qualities.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Hard times build determination and inner strength. Through them we can also come to appreciate the uselessness of anger. Instead of getting angry nurture a deep caring and respect for troublemakers because by creating such trying circumstances they provide us with invaluable opportunities to practice tolerance and patience.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
The most important thing is practice in daily life; then you can
know gradually the true value of religion. Doctrine is not meant for
mere knowledge, but for the improvement of our minds. In order to do
that, it must be part of our life. If you put religious doctrine in
a building and when you leave the building depart from the practices,
you cannot gain its value.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Unfortunately, love and compassion have been omitted from too many spheres of social interaction for too long. Usually confined to family and home, their practice in public life is considered impractical, even naive. This is tragic.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
The motivation of all religious practice is similar: love, sincerity, honesty. The way of life of practically all religious persons is consistent. The teachings of tolerance, love, and compassion are the same.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Compassion can be put into practice if one recognizes the fact that every human being is a member of humanity and the human family regardless of differences in religion, culture, color and creed. Deep down there is no difference.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Encountering sufferings will definitely contribute to the elevation of your spiritual practice, provided you are able to transform calamity and misfortune into the path.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
It is the enemy who can truly teach us to practice the virtues of compassion and tolerance.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Religion does not mean just precepts, a temple, monastery, or other external signs, for these as well as hearing and thinking are subsidiary factors in taming the mind. When the mind becomes the practices, one is a practitioner of religion, and when the mind does not become the practices one is not.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
For a practitioner of love and compassion, an enemy is one of the most important teachers. Without an enemy you cannot practice tolerance, and without tolerance you cannot build a sound basis of compassion.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Human beings will continue to deceive and overpower one another. Basically, everyone exists in the very nature of suffering, so to abuse or mistreat each other is futile. The foundation of all spiritual practice is love. That you practice this well is my only request.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
If we see pride among people who have no idea about Dharma, it is understandable. However, if afflictive emotions and haughtiness are present among Dharma practitioners, it is great disgrace to practice

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
Whatever forms of meditation you practice, the most important point is to apply mindfulness continuously, and make a sustained effort. It is unrealistic to expect results from meditation within a short period of time. What is required is continuous sustained effort.

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama