Cultivating care and concern for others gives rise to a kind of inner strength. No matter what difficulties or problems you face, in this wider context they’ll seem less significant and troubling to you. The inner strength, self-confidence and courage you gain by focussing on others’ needs instead of your own, brings with it a deep, calm sense of satisfaction.
Interpretation
Caring for others enhances our inner strength and perspective, making challenges appear less daunting.
This quote by the Dalai Lama emphasizes the importance of cultivating compassion for others as a means of developing personal resilience. By focusing on the needs of those around us, we not only foster deeper connections but also gain valuable inner strength and self-confidence, which help us navigate our own difficulties with a calmer and more satisfying mindset.
In practice
During a speech about community service, I quoted the Dalai Lama to inspire volunteers.
Human beings are not intrinsically selfish, which isolates us from others. We are essentially social animals who depend on others to meet our needs. We achieve happiness, prosperity and progress through social interaction. Therefore, having a kind and helpful attitude contributes to our own and others' happiness.
Material objects give rise to physical happiness, while spiritual development gives rise to mental happiness. Since we experience both physical and mental happiness, we need both material and spiritual development. This is why, for our own good and that of society we need to balance material progress with inner development.
All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.
The ultimate source of a happy life is warm-heartedness. This means extending to others the kind of concern we have for ourselves. On a simple level we find that if we have a compassionate heart we naturally have more friends. And scientists today are discovering that while anger and hatred eat into our immune system, warm-heartedness and compassion are good for our health.
My religion is kindness. _x000D_ A good mind, a good heart, _x000D_ warm feelings these are _x000D_ the most important things.
If a person's basic state of mind is serene and calm, then it is possible for this inner peace to overwhelm a painful physical experience. On the other hand, if someone is suffering from depression, anxiety, or any form of emotional distress, then even if he or she happens to be enjoying physical comforts, he will not really be able to experience the happiness that these could bring.
I have found it very important in my own life to try to let go of my wishes and instead to live in hope. I am finding that when I choose to let go of my sometimes petty and superficial wishes and trust that my life is precious and meaningful in the eyes of God something really new, something beyond my own expectations begins to happen for me. (Finding My Way Home)
The minute you start putting words on paper you're eliminating possibilities.
We're all just a bundle of habits shaped by our memories. And to the extent that we control our lives, we do so by gradually altering those habits, which is to say the networks of our memory. No lasting joke, or invention, or insight, or work of art was ever produced by an external memory. Not yet, at least.
Your own soul is nourished when you are kind; it is destroyed when you are cruel.
Where there's hope, there's life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again.
As I bent over the washboard and looked at my arms buried in soapsuds, I said to myself, 'What are you going to do when you grow old and your back gets stiff?' This set me to thinking, but with all my thinking I couldn't see how a poor washerwoman was going to better my condition.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.