❝Encountering sufferings will definitely contribute to the elevation of your spiritual practice, provided you are able to transform the calamity and misfortune into the path.-❞
- Dalai Lama’s “The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”
❝I am sometimes asked whether this vow of celibacy is really desirable and indeed whether it is really possible. Suffice to say that its practice is not simply a matter of suppressing sexual desires.
On the contrary, it is necessary to fully accept the existence of these desires and to transcend them by the power of reasoning. When successful, the result on the mind can be very beneficial. The trouble with sexual desire is that it is a blind desire and can only give temporary satisfaction.
Thus, as Nagarjuna said: “When you have an itch, you scratch. But not to itch at all is better than any amount of scratching.❞
- Dalai Lama’s “The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”
❝In one sense, we can say it is delusion itself - in the form of the wisdom derived from delusion - that actually destroys the delusions. Similarly it is the blissful experience of emptiness induced by sexual desire that dissolves the force of sexual impulses. This is analogous to the life of wood-born insects: they consume the very wood from which they are born. Such utilization of the path to enlightenment is a unique feature of tantra.❞
- Dalai Lama’s “The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”
❝Crucial to the hermeneutical approach is the Mahayana principle of the four reliances. They are:
(i) reliance on the teaching, not on the teacher;
(ii) reliance on the meaning, not on the words that express it;
(iii) reliance on the definitive meaning, not on the provisional meaning;
(iv) reliance on the transcendent wisdom of deep experience, not on mere knowledge.❞
- Dalai Lama’s “The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”
❝If a person has never encountered love toward himself or herself from any quarter, it is very sad. But if that person can meet even one person who will show unconditional love - simply acceptance and compassion - if he knows that he is an object of someone else’s affection and love, it is bound to have an impact, and this will be appreciated. Because there is a seed in himself, this act of love will start of catalyse or ripen that seed.❞
- Dalai Lama’s “The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”
❝I find that there are two types of fear. In one kind, things are quite delicate, or critical. At such times, I know that I must make a decision, whether I know what to do or not. First, I try to consult with my friends and reflect on it. Then I make a decision and act, and I never have any regret.
Ultimately, this is very much related to motivation. If I have no negative, selfish motivation, deep down I will have no guilty feeling. A second kind of fear is based on imagination. To overcome that, you need calmness so that you can investigate it more closely. When you look into it in detail, your imaginary fear dissipates.❞
- Dalai Lama’s “The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”
❝I used to feel that if I ever gain a state of cessation, I shall really take a good rest. Once we have attained such a state, we could take a good rest and a real holiday, in the true sense of the word. Until we get to such a state, it is foolish for us to be complacent. When we have attained the state of cessation, we have truly reached a very secure ground.❞
- Dalai Lama’s “The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”
❝Many people think that to be patient in bearing loss is a sign of weakness. I think this is a mistake. It is anger that is a sign of weakness, whereas patience is a sign of strength. For example, a person arguing a point based on sound reasoning remains confident and may even smile while proving his case.
On the other hand, if his reasons are unsound and he is about to lose face, he gets angry, loses control, and starts talking nonsense. People rarely get angry if they are confident in what they are doing. Anger comes more easily in moments of confusion.❞
- Dalai Lama’s “The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”
❝You should see that all the external dirt and dust around you is basically a manifestation of the faults and stains within your mind. The most important aim is to purge these stains and faults from within your mind. Therefore, as you cleanse the environment, think that you are also purifying your mind.❞
- Dalai Lama’s “The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”
❝While you are engaging in the practice of giving you should do so with great happiness and radiance on your face. One should practice giving with a smile and with mental uprightness.❞
- Dalai Lama’s “The Path to Tranquility: Daily Wisdom”
