My religion is kindness. _x000D_ A good mind, a good heart, _x000D_ warm feelings these are _x000D_ the most important things.
Interpretation
Kindness and compassion are the core principles guiding one's life.
This quote by the Dalai Lama emphasizes that true spirituality and moral values stem from kindness, compassion, and emotional warmth. It suggests that possessing a good mind and heart is far more significant than adherence to rituals or dogmas, highlighting the essence of human connection and empathy in shaping a meaningful life.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a community service event to encourage 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.
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.
The feeling of being happy or unhappy rarely depends on our absolute state, but on our perception of the situation, on our capacity to be satisfied with what we have.
In some ways I feel sorry for racists and for religious fanatics, because they so much miss the point of being human, and deserve a sort of pity. But then I harden my heart, and decide to hate them all the more, because of the misery they inflict and because of the contemptible excuses they advance for doing so.
It is only in alert silence that truth can be.
People of this world are deluded. They're always longing for something - always, in a word, seeking.
This freedom, this liberty, this beautiful and terrible thing, needful to man as air, usable as earth.
The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.
To find a cause that's larger than yourself and then to give your life to it.
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