|
This is my simple religion. There is no need
for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.
"Without love we could not survive. Human beings are social
creatures, and a concern for each other is the very basis of our life together."
Happiness is not something
ready made. It comes from your own actions.
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.
We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive
without human affection.
Our prime purpose in this life is to help others.
And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.
Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will
not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved
ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighboring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected,
where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free. True peace with oneself and with the world around us
can only be achieved through the development of mental peace. The other phenomena mentioned above are similarly interrelated.
Thus, for example, we see that a clean environment, wealth or democracy mean little in the face of war, especially nuclear
war, and that material development is not sufficient to ensure human happiness.
Material progress is of course important
for human advancement. In Tibet, we paid much to little attention to technological and economic development, and today we
realize that this was a mistake. At the same time, material development without spiritual development can also cause serious
problems. In some countries too much attention is paid to external things and very little importance is given to inner development.
I believe both are important and must be developed side by side so as to achieve a good balance between them. Tibetans are
always described by foreign visitors as being a happy, jovial people. This is part of our national character, formed by cultural
and religious values that stress the importance of mental peace through the generation of love and kindness to all other living
sentient beings, both human and animal. Inner peace is the key: if you have inner peace, the external problems do not affect
your deep sense of peace and tranquillity. In that state of mind you can deal with situations with calmness and reason, while
keeping your inner happiness. This is very important. Without this inner peace, no matter how comfortable your life is materially,
you may still be worried, disturbed or unhappy because of circumstances.
The Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1989
Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of
our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually.
Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When
our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring communities, and so on. When we feel love and
kindness towards others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness
and peace. And there are ways in which we can consciously work to develop feelings of love and kindness.
For some of us, the most effective way to do so is
through religious practice. For others it may be non-religious practices. What is important is that we each make a sincere
effort to take our responsibility for each other and for the natural environment we live in seriously.
The Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1989
Consider the following. We humans are social beings. We come into the world
as the result of others' actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment
of our lives when we do not benefit from others' activities. For this reason it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness
arises in the context of our relationships with others. Nor is it so remarkable that our greatest joy should come when we
are motivated by concern for others. But that is not all. We find that not only do altruistic actions bring about happiness
but they also lessen our experience of suffering. Here I am not suggesting that the individual whose actions are motivated
by the wish to bring others' happiness necessarily meets with less misfortune than the one who does not. Sickness, old age,
mishaps of one sort or another are the same for us all. But the sufferings which undermine our internal peace anxiety, doubt,
disappointment these things are definitely less. In our concern for others, we worry less about ourselves. When we worry less
about ourselves an experience of our own suffering is less intense.
What does this tell us? Firstly, because our every action has a universal
dimension, a potenial impact on others happiness, ethics are necessary as a means to ensure that we do not harm others. Secondly,
it tells us that genuine happiness consists in those spiritual qualities of love, compassion, patience, tolerance and forgiveness
and so on. For it is these which provide both for our happiness and others happiness.
Ethics for a New Millennium, by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
|
