Dalai Lama

We live very close together. So, our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.

My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.

We begin from the recognition that all beings cherish happiness and do not want suffering. It then becomes both morally wrong and pragmatically unwise to pursue only one's own happiness oblivious to the feelings and aspirations of all others who surround us as members of the same human family. The wiser course is to think of others when pursuing our own happiness.

One of the expressions of Western over-reliance on technology can be seen in the lack of patience in industrial society. When you deal with technology, everything happens at the touch of a button. This conditions you to become so impatient that when you have an emotional or personal crisis, you don't allow time for the solution to take effect. This leads to all sorts of rash responses, like quarrels, fights and so on.

I agree that the fear of American cultural imperialism is shared by many people, and I agree with your point about the invasive nature of television culture. But I wouldn't draw the next inference: that this is negative and therefore it must be stopped. I feel that one should address this influence in a way that takes away the negative edge through a positive counter-response. This way, you reinforce and reaffirm your conviction in the inner values. You harness those beliefs and develop them with a greater degree of self-awareness. That's the kind of response people should have, instead of rejecting technology.

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.

We can never obtain peace in the world if we neglect the inner world and don't make peace with ourselves. World peace must develop out of inner peace.

Without the human community one single human being cannot survive.