Quotes From the Dali Lama That Will Inspire You to Open to Joy

Quotes From the Dali Lama That Will Inspire You to Open to Joy

“The paradox is that although the drive behind excessive self-focus is to seek greater happiness for yourself, it ends up doing exactly the opposite. When you focus too much on yourself, you become disconnected and alienated from others.” ~ Dalai Lama

‘Constant comparison with those who are smarter, more beautiful, or more successful than ourselves also tends to breed envy, frustration, and unhappiness.’ ~ Dalai Lama

“One begins by identifying those factors which lead to happiness and those factors which lead to suffering. Having done this, one then sets about gradually eliminating those factors which lead to suffering and cultivating those which lead to happiness.” ~ Dalai Lama

“Taking care of others, helping others, ultimately is the way to discover your own joy and to have a happy life.” ~ Dalai Lama

“The ultimate source of satisfaction is within yourself.” ~ Dalai Lama

“In a big city with a lot of people, just thinking of one’s self, a self0centered attitude, and no idea of a sense of love, and then too much competitive sense, then jealousy, jealousy brings distrust, distrust brings frustration, fear, so therefore the lonely feeling automatically comes. It is your own mental attitude.” ~ Dalai Lama

“I think eventually we can develop a deeper experience about life.”

“Friendship is essential. With friendship there is trust.” ~ Dalai Lama

“If you do wrong things, mainly harming others, you get negative consequences. More inner strength, and more sort of confidence of your purpose in life, and fulfillment about that purpose, then you feel happy.” ~ Dalai Lama

“Peace of mind comes firstly from warm-heartedness. If I consider myself as something different from you, then I create myself as a prisoner. I simply consider myself as one of seven billion human beings.” ~ Dalai Lama

“If there is no joy or happiness at the mental level, too much worrying, too much fear, then even the physical comforts and pleasure will not soothe your mental discomfort. Develop a genuine sense of love and affection.” ~ Dalai Lama

“If you develop a strong sense of concern for the well-being of sentient beings and in particular all human beings, this will make you happy in the mornings, even before coffee.” ~ Dalai Lama

“Much depends on your attitude. If you are filled with negative judgment and anger, then you will feel separate from other people. You will feel lonely. But if you have an open heart and are filled with trust and friendship, even if you are physically alone, even living a hermit’s life, you will never feel lonely.” ~ Dalai Lama

“The only thing that will bring happiness is affection and warm-heartedness. This really brings inner strength and self-confidence, reduces fear, develops trust, and trust brings friendship.” ~ Dalai Lama

“When you have a more compassionate mind and cultivate warm-heartedness, the whole atmosphere around you becomes more positive and friendlier. You see friends everywhere. If you feel fear and distrust, then other people will distance themselves. They will feel cautious, suspicious, and distrustful. Then comes the feeling of loneliness.” ~ Dalai Lama

“If you live with fear and consider yourself as something special, then automatically, emotionally, you are distanced from others. You then create the basis for feelings of alienation from others and loneliness. So, I never consider, even when giving a talk to a large crowd, that I am something special, I am ‘His Holiness the Dalai Lama,’ I always emphasize that when I meet people, we are all the same human beings.” ~ Dalai Lama

“Many people think of suffering as a problem. Actually, it is an opportunity destiny has given to you.” ~ Dalai Lama

“In reality like our physical body, where growth takes time, our mental development also takes time.” -~ Dalai Lama

“Of course, when I say that human nature is gentleness, it is not 100 percent so. Every human being has that nature, but there are many people acting against their nature, being false.” ~ Dalai Lama

“We can reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion…. This, then, is my true religion, my simple faith. In this sense, there is no need for temple or church, for mosque or synagogue, no need for complicated philosophy, doctrine or dogma. Our own heart, our own mind, is the temple. The doctrine is compassion. Love for others and respect for their rights and dignity, no matter who or what they are: ultimately these are all we need. So long as we practice these in our daily lives, then no matter if we are learned or unlearned, whether we believe in Buddha or God, or follow some other religion or none at all, as long as we have compassion for others and conduct ourselves with restraint out of a sense of responsibility, there is no doubt we will be happy.” ~ Dalai Lama